Everyone seems to be a bit upset with New York Times op-ed star David Brooks for complaining about a $78 meal at the Newark airport but we are more genuinely impressed at his willingness to take the slings in arrows in service of using a pretty flimsy anecdotal experience to paint a broad-brush assertion about the American psyche. Because it's a bold choice to saddle up to a godforsaken gastropub permanently serving up surge pricing, pair a burger and fries with at least one tumbler of brown liquor, and just let it rip.

Here's the dinner that set Brooks — or the New York Times if this was eligible to be expensed — back the equivalent price of 18 holes and a cart ride at a pretty decent golf course.

The replies are both pretty hilarious and aggressive. And also chilling, if people all over this country are being forced to only eat out and take the edge off at airport bars three or four times per week. Really makes you think about what's happened to this place.

Now, the perils of trusting a random person on the internet are self-evident. But sleuths are suggesting that a burger at the establishment allegedly in question costs $18. Which is significantly less than $78. So the difference may have come in the glass. Or, if you'd like to take a more charitable approach, it's possible Brooks is simply a very generous tipper — although generous tippers don't usually then turn around and complain about how much their generosity set them back.

More on this as it develops.

This article was originally published on thebiglead as New York Times Columnist David Brooks' $78 Airport Meal Is Remarkable.