I Just Don't Understand People

This is one of those situations where I will use codenames to protect the innocent, or guilty. It is a story that I cannot believe really happened, but as I think about it more it is not really that surprising.

A family I know who goes to either Las Vegas or Disneyland every chance they get pulled their kids out of school on Friday and went to Disneyland for the weekend. This was not surprising because they go their so often and becuase they always seem to pull their kids out of school from one lame reason or another.

The real shocker to me was that just two weeks ago, one of the parents was telling everyone that they don't eat fruit and vegetables very often any more because they can't afford them. I found that statement shocking when I heard it becuase they didn't seem to have cut back in any other areas of their life. The kids still seem to have a soda in their hands everytime I see them and they have not cut back on their consumption of beer.

I undestand that fruit and vegetables are expensive. I often have an internal struggle when I am at the grocery store as to wether or not I should be buying the fruit and vegetables that I buy. I just can't understand why they are so expensive given that so many of them are grown right here in my back yard. For the most part, transportation costs should be very minimal, yet they continue to be expensive.

The last time we went to Disneyland, we ended up spending more than a thousand dollars for the trip. We did not stay at a fancy hotel. We did not even splurge on anything. The two-day park hopper passes for the four of us was the single largets expense. Given this, I know that this family spent a lot more than us. They have one additional child and they really love to eat. They alwayst talk about going to Downtown Disney to eat nice dinners when they are there. And on this trip their second youngest child ordered salmon for dinner one night so I know they were not operating on a shoe string budget.

I just don't understand why they would take a trip like this if they cannot even afford healthy food for their children to eat at home. They must have charged this trip on their credit cards which makes it even worse. Why do people do this? I think it goes back to parents trying to buy the love of their children.

These parents don't really spend a lot of time with their kids. I played catch with their second youngest child one day and the mother said that she was glad that someone was finally playing catch with him. That made me feel sorry for the kids, but also made me angry at the parents. I will admit that I am not the best parent, but how do you not play catch with your child from time to time?

This past summer, while they were still struggling for money they took several trips. They went to Disneyland. They went to Knott's Berry Farm. They went to Great America. Then in December, they went to Disneyland again. I just don't understand how a family who is struggling with money can make three trips to Disneyland in less than a year. How can you justify that? I guess this is just what most families do now which is why their have been so many home foreclosures. People have just gotten irresponsible. They just do whatever they want without thinking about how they will pay for it. It all just makes me mad when I think about it.