ridiculous

Last night, International Date Night, WB and I had not planned a date. The odds of us finding a sitter with Valentine's being the first Saturday of Feb vacation were not on our side: we figured we'd have a VD observed sometime later. The Kids had come over in the afternoon because their mom had worked the night before. Boy 2 hatched a plan to have our kids sleep over there, and through the wonder of vacations, it happened. Suddenly, WB and I were alone on VD... and we jumped in the van and headed for the movies.

Now we have never been a big movie-going couple: even when we were single, dinner and a movie but a dent in the wallet. During the sleepless baby years, I couldn't stay awake long enough to watch the rented movie, never mind get to the theater and get my money's worth. Recently, though, we've become Saturday night NetFlix watchers. For $10, we watch 4 DVDs. That is a cost/enjoyment ratio I can support.

But we usually pay to see one movie in the theaters each year. It's not like we've made it a formal plan or anything-- it just seems to work out that way. WB wanted to see Slumdog Millionare, and decide it could be our VD date. The kids left at 5:50, making the 9:15 showing our only option. I hadn't gotten cash or anything, but figured the $13 in my wallet would be sufficient. Imagine my shock when it cost us $16 for two tickets! Ridiculous! Thinking back, I don't remember the last movie I paid to see during the 7 o'clock hour, never mind the late show. I'd rather see a matinee for less money than say I saw the same movie at night for more money. (Yes, I know, I'm cheap. All good Maine Girls are. :) Now I remember why I rarely see a movie in the theaters-- sticker shock. Ridiculous.

Now, it should be said that Slumdog was very well done, and while parts of it were shocking and parts depressing, parts were uplifting too, and it was well worth seeing. I would feel better about the price if the studio execs would do something radical, like say give 1% of 1 day's take to something-- reducing the national debt, buying paper for a public school, giving to a food pantry-- but I don't think even Obama can bring about that kind of change. So, until I forget the shock of a full priced ticket again, I'll be waiting to see the rest of the Oscar nominees on video.