“So they can adjust your gov’t benefits and pension based on what you buy. Fruit and Vegas - full pay. Cigs and beer - sorry, you’re on your own.”
I worked in Norway for a few years in the seventies. A pack of cigarettes was extremely expensive even then. It is worse now. About 14 us dollars. It was most odd to watch young girls roll cigarettes in a bar. Loose tobacco was much cheaper.
I was there in 2005, working on an RCCL cruise ship. VERY expensive, beer in a bar = $10, pair of good but non-designer jeans $100, ordinary business shirt $60. My impression was that minimum wage was about $25 at the time. Still.