Dilamo Dilamo

Okay, so here's the situation:

You go to Spencer's Plaza with friends. You buy some things from here and there, some of them riduclously overpriced, but you're okay with it, cos you can afford it.

Then you stop over at Cookie Man to buy some of those delectable treats.

While waiting for your sale to be rung up, you see a couple, with a kid. The man is wearing vetti sattai, and they seem as of they're in Chennai on a trip or something. The kid, who's about four, has taken a liking to the displayed gourmet chocolates. Just from the display, it's obvious they'll be quite expensive.

The kid asks for the chocolates, the father asks the counter guy how much it costs, and the guy at the counter is quite condesceding when he says -- ONNU (One) forty five rupees. The couple seem shocked at the price, and abruptly walk away, and the kid is wailing behind, asking for the chocolate.

So, what do you do?

So, here was my emotional roller coaster:
First, my impulse was to buy the chocolate and give it to the kid.
Then, I figure that if I did that, it'll be a bit condescending on my part as well, as if I'm ignoring the father, and somehow belittling him in the eyes of his family.
After that, I was angry -- first, at the guy at the counter for his seemingly rude behavior, and then at the whole Cookie Man establishment (in spite of their awesome cookies) for their overpriced chocolates. Of course, I realized it was quite the evasive behavior, because "it's the economy, stupid!"

In a free capitalist market, there will always be some people who'll be able to afford more than others. By this point, of course, the argument has assumed macro proportions in my mind. (At this point, let me confess that I know not if the family just thought the chocolate was unnecessary expenditure (I think it would be), and could well afford it.) Let's say I somehow made everyone magically able to afford the chocolate -- there'll be some other exclusive product that will come up, which will be more expensive than the rest!

Then, of course, I returned a bit micro, and was angry at myself -- for reasons unknown, but probably mainly guilt at buying things at these prices, and stoking the fire of price hikes.

In any case, by this time, our sales are done, and I have the cookies in my hand. I get a bit more micro and tell myself, "WEll, it's perhaps all for the best. Chocolates are no good for a child's teeth anyway!"

What could I have done differently?