Time to stop paying to be a captive consumer

Infotainment by LUKE MORITZ

If I had been starving, it might have been an option. But since I had eaten something in the last three days, I wasn’t hungry enough. The truth is, I’d had breakfast that morning, so spending almost $10 on a meal that contained three chicken fingers, 25 french fries and a small drink was definitely something I was not going to do. My Six Flags Magic Mountain trip this past weekend opened my eyes wider to the fact that captive audiences can get ripped off when buying food.

Sporting events, concerts and amusement parks are three common places where it seems like you have to take out a small loan just to stop your stomach from rumbling so loudly the person waiting in line next to you has to plug his or her ears. It really is a sham.

I am sure I could buy that same chicken fingers meal at the grocery store for my entire family for the same price I would have paid at Magic Mountain. Something is not right here.

Not only is the food expensive, but the prices of sodas are just as outrageous. They were selling the “commemorative collector’s cups” for $9 with your first fill-up FREE.

I guess they are thinking if someone sees that magical four-letter word, it won’t matter how much they pay. After you purchase the initial cup, refills are 99 cents. First, the cup itself is worth nowhere near the price you pay for it. Second, while 99 cents is an amazing deal compared to how much they charge for sodas regularly, it is still a very bad deal. Fountain sodas, especially, cost very little to the retailer. It is just carbonated water and syrup, both of which cost just pennies to make.

The icing on the cake is the fact that we pay a lot of money to get into the amusement park, or to buy a ticket to the game or concert and they still feel they can take advantage of us.

So now the question is: What do we do about it? If you have one of those special trees that sprouts money, go for it. Pay the money and buy yourself a meal.

The rest of us will have to settle on gorging ourselves before we go out. Either that or stuffing a hot dog in your pocket, but that could get messy. I think these food vendors need to realize our importance as customers and charge us a reasonable amount for our food. Of course, that is just my opinion.