Judge Not Les...Oh Go Ahead, You Know You Will Anyway

Thanks to the generosity of my boss I headed to the Rangers-Hurricanes game at MSG today. (Dear Rangers, Lundquist can't do it alone. Love, Kizz) I invited my cousin and we sat in our super expensive seats and giggled a lot. Today from our seats there was so much to judge...and not all of it on the ice. A gaggle of unruly youngsters squatting in the pricy seats for shoot around, an age-totally-inappropriate date that could have been a one act play (and might yet be), the woman trading cocktail recipes with the waiter, man it was hog heaven for the snarky! I got schooled, though.

In front of us was a man with 3 kids under the age of 10. The seats we sit in go for about $250 apiece, and that's the season ticket price. For all I know they're more expensive when bought individually. So that's $1,000 he's shelled out right there. He either drove or took a commuter train so there's that expense on top (don't forget how dear parking is in Manhattan). Then he bought them all some food. I, myself, spent about $10 on a pretzel and a soda, the kids ate more than I did. By the time he called the waitress over to order a second round for the kids (who, not for nothing, were really well behaved and kind to each other) I admit it, I judged. I did the assuming thing. I assumed that I was looking at 3 people (well 4 really) who weren't aware of the value of a dollar. I even suspected we were looking at an "...and every other Saturday" scenario with a big dose of purchased affection.

Dad: (ordering, includes Skittles for the boy on the end)

Boy: And popcorn!

Dad: (informatively, no tone at all) And popcorn? So Skittles and popcorn?

Boy: Yes!

Pause

Boy: Dad! How much is that?

Dad: It's...uh, I don't know, $5. Why?

Boy: Because I have money.

Dad: It's OK, buddy, I got this.

I was wrong. At least about the value knowledge part.