So, Meredith and I went to the movies Saturday night. We went to the Regal on Transit. For those reading this not familiar with the theaters around Buffalo, The Regal on Transit Road is the "big boy's" movie theater. This thing is the size of a small college campus. The parking lot is huge and chaotic. There's like a billion screens on the inside and they even have an IMAX, whatever that is.
We bought our tickets on Fandango.com so we wouldn't have to wait in line at the box office. I must admit, this is a sweet feature that not many people take advantage of it seems judging from the line. I dropped Meredith off at the door and headed directly for the back of the building where I knew there would be open parking spots. I hustled in and caught up with her just as she had finished printing our tickets. We walked in and stood in the first concession line we saw. After about 3 minutes or so we realized that this particular counter didn't sell popcorn. That explained why there was barely anyone waiting in line there. We shuffled over to the next line after making sure they sold popcorn. We don't go to the movies often but when we do you better not come between us and our movie theater popcorn.
Meredith and I were both thirsty too so we decided to purchase a combo that consisted of two "medium" drinks and one bucket of popcorn. Our insatiable lust for popcorn must have clouded our judgement momentarily and caused us to forget where we were. When we received our order our jaws dropped and we just stared. The "medium" sodas held enough liquid to drown a small animal and the bucket of popcorn was proportionately rediculous. Then the clerk rang it up. $17.00!!!!! I almost had a stroke. While all of this is happening we continued to stare with our mouths open. We briefly discussed the option of changing our minds but by this time I felt it was too late for that. I mean, it wasn't the clerks fault that we didn't think this whole thing through. We paid the $17.00 and took our refreshments. Actually, Meredith took a picture of the two sodas and our popcorn on the counter. That clerk must have thought we were from a different planet.
As you can probably guess, we didn't finish our sodas or that enormous bucket of popcorn. We ended up throwing the rest away. We certainly did pay way too much for it, though. All things considered, it probably costs the movie theater $2.00 for the supplies including the cups and bucket and that's being generous. That leaves $15.00 profit. I'm all for businesses making money but geez. Not only that, how about the portions? I should probably go see my doctor just to make sure I don't have diabetes now. If that soda is considered a medium (32 oz) then I can only imagine what a large is, 64 oz? Also, ever notice how the movie theaters don't put the prices of those combos on the board? Now, I should have thought enough to ask but that's exactly why they don't post the prices.
Of course, soda and popcorn are not evil. Actually, they are tasty and delicious. I like both, by themselves or together. I can eat a little, or a lot. It's entirely up to me. The question I have been posing to myself, not just in regards to theater refreshments either, is this: "Just because you can do something, does that mean you should?" What do you think? How big is "too big"? How much is "too much"? I'm not sure myself.
We bought our tickets on Fandango.com so we wouldn't have to wait in line at the box office. I must admit, this is a sweet feature that not many people take advantage of it seems judging from the line. I dropped Meredith off at the door and headed directly for the back of the building where I knew there would be open parking spots. I hustled in and caught up with her just as she had finished printing our tickets. We walked in and stood in the first concession line we saw. After about 3 minutes or so we realized that this particular counter didn't sell popcorn. That explained why there was barely anyone waiting in line there. We shuffled over to the next line after making sure they sold popcorn. We don't go to the movies often but when we do you better not come between us and our movie theater popcorn.
Meredith and I were both thirsty too so we decided to purchase a combo that consisted of two "medium" drinks and one bucket of popcorn. Our insatiable lust for popcorn must have clouded our judgement momentarily and caused us to forget where we were. When we received our order our jaws dropped and we just stared. The "medium" sodas held enough liquid to drown a small animal and the bucket of popcorn was proportionately rediculous. Then the clerk rang it up. $17.00!!!!! I almost had a stroke. While all of this is happening we continued to stare with our mouths open. We briefly discussed the option of changing our minds but by this time I felt it was too late for that. I mean, it wasn't the clerks fault that we didn't think this whole thing through. We paid the $17.00 and took our refreshments. Actually, Meredith took a picture of the two sodas and our popcorn on the counter. That clerk must have thought we were from a different planet.
As you can probably guess, we didn't finish our sodas or that enormous bucket of popcorn. We ended up throwing the rest away. We certainly did pay way too much for it, though. All things considered, it probably costs the movie theater $2.00 for the supplies including the cups and bucket and that's being generous. That leaves $15.00 profit. I'm all for businesses making money but geez. Not only that, how about the portions? I should probably go see my doctor just to make sure I don't have diabetes now. If that soda is considered a medium (32 oz) then I can only imagine what a large is, 64 oz? Also, ever notice how the movie theaters don't put the prices of those combos on the board? Now, I should have thought enough to ask but that's exactly why they don't post the prices.
Of course, soda and popcorn are not evil. Actually, they are tasty and delicious. I like both, by themselves or together. I can eat a little, or a lot. It's entirely up to me. The question I have been posing to myself, not just in regards to theater refreshments either, is this: "Just because you can do something, does that mean you should?" What do you think? How big is "too big"? How much is "too much"? I'm not sure myself.
Seriously though, this is what I think is wrong with America. Our extreme affluence has put us in a position to do almost anything we desire to do. If we want something we can go out and get it, for the most part. "If a little of something is good, then a lot must be better." An American ideal. I believe that we have been blessed for a reason. This, of course, is not an original thought. It's something I have picked up along the way. Are we using what we have to bless others or are we simply stock piling our resources? Are we consuming for consumptions sake? Are we gorging ourselves and in the process digging our own graves? No, I'm not just talking about eating too much.
I paid way too much for something that I didn't need and didn't even fully utilize. I realized it was a bad deal but I went along with it anyway, because I could. I could afford it. Maybe I should have been nobler and spoke up at that moment, or wiser and thought it through better. Either way I can't change it. It's too late. Good thing it was only popcorn and soda, right? Right.
2 comments:
Supersize Me!!
Paying too much, for something we don't need, that isn't even good for us. ahhhh. living the american dream...
Ha, yeah Erik, I remember in Africa when we were planting in the field and I dropped a little seed and the little girl behind me ran to pick it up because she didn't want it to go to waste. America is wasteful, and that is one thing that certainly drives me crazy. One of the American teachers here in the DR told me that there is some American organization here that is going to take the scraps from the fancy resorts to give to poor people who don't have food. They can do that here because there aren't laws about that here like in the US. Anyway, I think that is cool that there are organizations here that are trying to be less wasteful. Anyway... thanks for sharing your story and thoughts... look forward to reading more posts soon! :)
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