How Cedar Point Covertly Doubled Their Admission Price (And How Apple Stole a Page Out of Their Playbook)

The irony of lamenting the affects on a child’s moral structure of perceived societal injustice from a Santa Fast Pass that they witnessed by a parent bringing them to a mall, during a gift giving holiday season, to see ‘Santa’, so they can tell Santa what they want for Christmas ..... is priceless.

Pete said:

Santa probably installed zippered pouches on his sleigh.

Santa has the right idea.

Found this on the seat of my sleigh. Better fix that hole in your pocket. Mr. C.

Saw this today and thought of this thread:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/16/uk/poverty-proof-school-gbr-scli-intl/index.html

Taking it back full circle, should schools ban expensive phones? Not everyone can afford a $1000 phone. Are kids who can't stigmatized? Are there things other than coats to which a similar rule should apply? Wonder if there is anyone on the school board who works for competitors who sell cheaper coats not on the banned list?

GoBucks89 said:

Saw this today and thought of this thread:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/16/uk/poverty-proof-school-gbr-scli-intl/index.html

Taking it back full circle, should schools ban expensive phones? Not everyone can afford a $1000 phone. Are kids who can't stigmatized? Are there things other than coats to which a similar rule should apply? Wonder if there is anyone on the school board who works for competitors who sell cheaper coats not on the banned list?

That is just absurd. Sounds like a good topic for my radio show on Tuesday morning.

Christmas is a time to be thankful for what you have. It's a time to remember those who are less fortunate. Christmas is a time for showing compassion and generosity. It's a time to remember the greatest gift humanity was ever given.

The emphasis here is mine.

I just wanted to circle back to this and comment on the paradox of being thankful for what you have but also being upset that someone else has more than me.

Full disclosure: I'm 29. My parents couldn't afford much for me and my 3 younger siblings growing up, especially compared to what my friends were getting. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I wasn't ever a little bummed out upon returning to school and hearing all the things my friends got. I once received a single orange sweater in addition to the things in my stocking one Christmas (pretty sure they just forgot among all the other craziness going on).

But you know what I did learn from my parents? That life is hard, isn't fair, and to be thankful for what you have. Parents need to be the ones teaching their kids to be compassionate, kind, giving, sacrificial, not corporations who would only be giving you lip service anyway. Parents should also be teaching their kids to be grateful, even in the face of some other brat that isn't any of those things. We should be learning from a young age that the grass isn't always greener and that delayed gratification is actually better for us in the long run anyway.

Coddling kids at a young age isn't going to solve anything. I'm not a fan of always using the stiff upper lip (I'm not British so maybe that's part of it), but I'm pretty sure it comes in handy at a time like this.

Forget $1,000 phones my teen kids don't even have their own phones period and they don't appear to be the least bit traumatized. They don't care about Fastlane either. We had one good talk about how much it costs and that basically they could have one day in the park with Fastlane or a season pass and a whole summer in the park for the same amount of money. They get it. They would rather have the season pass. Explaining why their friends have home theater rooms with big screen TVs in houses that are 4 times the size of ours was a bit trickier but they seem to be dealing with it fine. My dad used to tell me life isn't fair and the sooner you accept that the easier life will be. It sucks but it's true.

My kid got a taste of FastLane when we renewed our Platinum Passes (first time we’ve actually used ANY of the renewal benefits) this past September during HalloWeekends and again at Dorney Park during Coaster Madness (includes with the event). I told him not to get used to it.

^^ Yes, Ms. Paisely, I will go out on a limb and say that those friends with the large houses and theatre's & such are still friends, despite any disparity in possessions. Friendships see past those material things, although jealousy is a trait we all struggle with. Back when I was a teen we had a friend we nicknamed 3rd, as in 3rd Federal Bank. They were quite well off but welcomed us wrong side of the tracks group. Most of us are still true friends.