Rachel's Dad and his wife, Becky, stopped by our home on Wednesday night for a holiday visit with our family. They had spent some time with Wes' family (his mom, and brother) in upstate New York and were returning to North Carolina to spend a few more days with Becky, Zach and Daniel before flying home on Christmas Eve. They originally planned to stay with us only a night, but decided to stay and hang out with the girls for a whole day before leaving on Friday morning. We decided to go to the mall, and have the girls visit Santa, so that the grandparents could see the magic of Christmas through the girls eyes. I waited in line with Allison and Ryleigh, and Rachel gave Lindsay to Santa when it was our turn. Wes had his camera to snap a few pictures, as apparently even Santa Claus at the mall has turned evil.
The trend of charging out the whazoo for pictures of kids with Santa now is annoying. It used to be a service that the mall would provide for the customers of the particular mall, with parents being able to take pictures at will for FREE !!??!! Now, they have people and stuff blocking Santa with signs telling you to be respectful and not take pictures of your kids with Santa (see green sign in foreground). What does that mean? Be respectful? I think that loosely translates into "Please don't take pictures of your kids with Santa, but you can pay 15 bucks for one 5x7 photo from our camera". They also claim that "Visits with Santa are always welcome" on the sign, but don't tell you that it also comes with a high-pressure, guilt laden sales pitch. I almost expected the freakin' lady to tell me about the cost savings of a Time Share in the Napa Valley, in addition to the photo. They were awful, especially since they knew that Wes snapped a couple of pics of the girls. I almost don't ever want to go to the Mall again during Christmas with the girls, because Santa is now a sell out. Just another childhood memory ground to dust, sacrificed at the altar of the Holy Dollar.
1 comment:
Oh so true. There's a mall by us that won't allow you to even take a picture unless you are also buying one from them. Apparently they must think we are all made of money.
Post a Comment