I should follow my heart most times when it comes to family stuff. Should I stay home and watch M*A*S*H reruns or go to the band concert where they have to introduce the songs so that the audience can recognize what’s being played. Should I go to visit relatives or stay home and clean, mow, paint or do what ever job I’ve been avoiding for the past twenty years.
The calendar years 2009 is trying to squeeze all the haze, heat and humidity of an entire summer into the last half of August. It is always during this time of year when I agree to go to Hershey Park. Reasons for this are; as a home school family we go before Labor Day but after the local families are back in school, the free passes for admission and parking have been received from the Patriot-News and crowds seem to thin. I also have a rule that I go to Hershey Park for a cheaply as possible if not for free. Paying full price for Hershey Park tickets is like paying for someone to give you West Nile virus or Swine flu. Just doesn’t seem right to me.
The planets aligned, the numbers came up and yesterday seemed like the day for us to go. Nate and Jen were able to go with us. Seth had a friend who was able to go with us. I happened to have the day off. I should have known this was wrong due to my rules violations but I blindly, in the name of harmony, said that this may be the best time for us to go. What rules violations you ask? Well I paid for three of the tickets. Not full price but I still used money that I earned to purchase these tickets. Yesterday did not fall into the time slot out lined above.
As the moment to go came closer and closer I became claustrophobic in the situation. I knew I did not want to go but I felt that I should be there with my family on their special day. Then my ‘out’ arrived. I had an appointment with the orthopedic doctor at 1 o’clock. The pressure is off. I don’t have to go. Ann who is not only my wife but is also my social director discovered that three weeks earlier I agreed to have my long standing 1 o’clock appointment with Dr. Cordis scheduled at 9 a.m. on August 20th. See what I mean about the planets aligning.
I changed tactics and instead of trying to avoid the Hershey Park happy day, I decided to cut my losses and aim for something in between. I’ll go but I’ll go late. By going late I can also leave early since I will have my own vehicle there. The price of this tactic is the ten dollars I will have to pay in order to park. Cheap, I just won’t buy anything to eat in the park.
I leave for the doctors at 8:45. Get out of the doctors at 9:30. The doctor refunds my copay so now my total expenditure go the day goes the red to the black. Twenty dollar copay minus ten dollar parking fee equals ten dollars in my pocket. See what I mean about the planets aligning. From the doctors I go straight home so I can get on my way. Not! I drive slowly past Lowes checking out the reduced plants. I go to the credit union (lobby). I go to Mickey D’s for a senior coffee and a McMuffin. I go to Weis, eat my sandwich in the parking lot and after shopping, check out through the lane with the longest line of customers. I go back to the credit union (drive through) to cash a check I forgot the first time. I stop at the bank. Then and only then do I go home. I decide that since I’m home alone I’ll try and finish fixing the upstairs commode. Easier than expected I finish what I was working on. Darn! Ann calls and I promise that as soon as I eat something for lunch I leave to join the festivities.
By 1:30 I have parted with a Hamilton in the Giants Center parking lot, ridden the tram to the main gate and had my camera bag searched by a Hershey Park happy guards. The heaviness is upon me. I feel how I imagine I would feel if I was sitting in the principal’s office or at the police station. I am just somewhere that I do not want to be. Then it rains. Scratch that. Then it pours. Clears up and pours again. You may think that this is bad however it was during this respite that I had my second most enjoyable moment. I was trapped for about half an hour in an arcade next to a giant claw machine. I was entertained by (excuse me for a moment while I try to come up for a word for those people who not only visit amusement parks but also drop hundreds of dollars while there on arcade games; fools come to mind, you know the adage “A fool and his money are soon parted”; I don’t think ‘parkers’ is apropos since I remember from my youth the connotation of that word, so I think I’ll use) Hershey Park happy people who were trying to win oversized blue, pink and purple stuffed bears at $2 a pop. My third most enjoyable moment came during the second downpour when Nate, Jen, Seth, Micah and Joel were caught in the open during the rain and at my suggestion fixed a broken umbrella from a vacant condiment stand and used it to shield themselves from nature’s fury. That was great!
What was my most enjoyable moment? Nothing, and I mean nothing, can match the shear exhilaration, the thrill, the rush I receive from the ride on the tram that goes from the Tram Circle to Tram stop #2. Excuse me while I catch my breath just remembering the feeling I had as I squeezed into the tram and deposited my backside on the seat that was taking me home and away from Hershey Park! From the time I announced I was heading for home while standing at the Wave Runner until I arrived at Tram Circle I felt as if I was being pulled by a team of wild horses. I wanted to break into an all out run. Not wanting to draw undo attention to myself I merely strolled briskly toward the exit only stopping twice once to listen to the Rhythm Chocolate Workers and once to refill my popcorn container.
In retrospect, I believe today’s activities validate once again what I have learned throughout the years. Go to the band concert. Visit the relatives. Stay away from Hershey Park.
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