Six Flags is going to start offering VIP passes, which will include no wait for rides, free parking, snacks and food and a meeting with your choice of characters in private. The catch? The cost will be four times what you would ordinarily pay. In other words, money = very important person.
I must say, waiting in line with children can be a drag. Add to that the weather, bathroom issues, rude people trying to cut in front of you the entire way and feeling like you've just wasted an hour and it's just plain annoying. Of course, leave it to the entertainment world to, instead of creating a solution for those who wait in this incredibly boring long lines to just create an elite group of people who don't have to!
When we went to Disney World this past February, we were given "Dream Fastpasses" the first day, which allowed us to ride once the most popular rides without much of a wait. It was a little addictive. So much so that our next day, in the Magic Kingdom, we collected as many fastpasses as we could and bitterly complained when we had to wait in a long line for Pirates of the Caribbean. Essentially, what happened was that our "dream" passes created a family of whiners, complainers and spoiled rotten brats! I'm embarrassed to admit that we taught our children nothing from that experience other than we are better than waiting in line.
There's a lot of say about the characteristics waiting can teach us. Those virtues such as patience, kindness, joyfulness, self-control all play a part in our waiting experience. Lines are a great visual for us because we wait in them everywhere. The truth is that in life we have to wait for a lot of things, it's just not always in line. And in life, there is a rarely a VIP pass that can be bought so our wait is shorter. In life, money does not equal very important when we have to wait for test results, or a paycheck, our food at a restaurant, our prayer to be answered, our sickness to be healed or for traffic to move. We just aren't teaching our children anything by paying $200 instead of $50 so that they can be spoiled for a day. That's just my humble opinion!
2 comments:
The sad thing is that in our society, money buys privilege in all sorts of ways...better healthcare, safer neighborhoods, better education, nourishing food, even everyday stuff like the ability to afford safer cars/carseats...
Life shouldn't be this way, but the reality is there. While we may not be able to change the system, I believe it makes a difference when we reach beyond the boundaries in living and teaching our children compassion.
Yup, sad but true. Really, at first glance, this sounds fun and totally worth it, but then would my children ever enjoy an amusement park if they had to experience it with everyone else?? I just think it gives kids the wrong impression. Just my own humble opinion!
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