Now that we're parents we see the world differently. Every trip we take out of the house is made in light of having an infant with us. For example, a few weeks ago some people went to go watch the Bengals' preseason game at BW's. Once we walked through the door we knew it would be an impossibility. Our days of sportsbars are now on hiatus. But we're starting to get a sense of where we can go and where we can't with Kaelyn. One of the most delightful times we had was her first Reds game. All the ushers were excited to see our little girl being indoctrinated into Reds culture and people were super friendly. It was a great day.
Parallel that experience to that of Owen and Lisa Foust, who took their three month-old daughter to her first football game at Kansas University and were told that they'd need to buy a full-price $35 ticket to get her in.
Jayhawk officials stated that people with children carry around a lot of equipment with them, sometime taking up more space than just their seats; that's why they charge to get even newborns into the stadium. I can understand this; since we've had the kid we haul around more stuff than I would for a week's vacation. Point taken. But here's where I start to have issues.
First, why a full-price ticket instead of a reduced "child rate?" This is just the university trying to rake on parents who want to have their kids with them. Usually families like this are diehard fans willing to invest a lifetime of loyalty into their children. Way to make friendly here, KU. Squeeze all you can out of them. It's not like your athletic department is that hard up.
But perhaps the most important issue: it's Kansas football we're talking about here. I mean, if it was basketball, where Allen Fieldhouse is packed to see a winner, I could understand this. But do people actually even attend Kansas football games? I think they'd be happy to fill as many seats as possible. Sorry to my friend Paul Carlile, but the truth can be painful. I think UC is paying people to go to tomorrow night's game against Pitt. And no mock terrorist attack either.
I've seen some parents flaunt around their kids, trying to score freebies wherever possible. This is wrong but, at the same times, entities shouldn't be discriminating against people wanting to have a family and still go out in public.