There was no announcement. No headline. No moment where someone said things would cost more and give less.It just happened slowly enough that most of us adjusted instead of objected. Big changes rarely arrive loudly. The ones that matter most come through small shifts: a price increase here, a smaller portion there, a “temporary” adjustment that never reverses. Over time, the baseline moves. Once it does, we stop remembering what things used to feel like. This isn’t nostalgia.It’s measurement. Prices didn’t simply rise value eroded while labels stayed familiar.A quarter-pound burger is still called a quarter-pound burger. Rent is still…