The actual gunk they put into shaving cream is very inexpensive. It's the metals in the and the manufacturing process that is more costly.

Since more people buy larger cans, you can produce more at less cost. Since fewer people buy those small cans, the production costs sky rocket.

I don't know if that is the case, but it seems plausible to me.

As far as standing in line goes… That's crazy. Then again, look at the bad TV that people watch?

People are morons, sir, who truly can think of nothing more productive to do with their time than to stand in line for a two-dollar ice cream cone.

Anyways, the price of the shaving cream is not as economically frustrating as it might appear, at least not once you factor in the effects of our lovely friends at the TSA.

For starters, I'm willing to wager that a disproportionate chunk of the cost of shaving cream comes from the packaging. Since, presumably, the manufacturer produces far more of the larger bottle than of the smaller bottle, it is entirely possible that the production cost of the smaller bottle is actually more than the production cost of the larger bottle. It's also entirely possible that the smaller bottle, because of its size, is more labor intensive in terms of filling it with shaving cream and producing the dispensing mechanism.

On top of that, the travel size fits within the TSA's idiotic restrictions on liquids. This has the effect of creating an artificially high demand for the travel size.

Of course, people are still idiots, because it would be cheaper for them to just buy a full-size shaving cream when they land and throw it out before their trip home. Which returns this back to the realm of economic irrationality.

Having experienced a bout of unemployment, I easily could've justified trading my idle time for a 23 cent pizza. My hours were generating no income, I need to eat, and a $12 pizza was selling for 23 cents. My time could "earn" $11.77. Even at a two hour wait, that's still almost minimum wage.

I would've brought a book.

* Obviously I would've gotten sorbet or pizza with no cheese, if I'd waited in a normal-length line. Obviously. The pizza place near my house has finally stopped giving us funny looks when we order pizza with no cheese.