Policy of truth
When I quote Depeche Mode, it's gotta be serious.
And so was Nigel, when I was trying to wrangle a free ticket for Shannon up the tower in Malacca during our recent holiday trip. As most of you parents know, it's always fun to take your kids on a ride somewhere, and if you can get it for free, why not? So when you read a sign that says "Children under 3 free", your heart skips a beat and you eye the kids in their youthfullness and wonder if the cashier has any experience in the age-analysis of a short person standing 4 feet away. And most of the time, if you think about it, they most definitely do, and it's mainly because they have to deal with scheming, lying cheapskates like us everyday. So they stand up, look at the child in question, look at you and if you're lucky (or if your child really qualifies) you get the free-one.
But on this attempt where I was trying to convince the lady that Shannon was three (given that two was really pushing it), two things went against me.
Firstly, the sign said "Children 3 and older need a RM10 ticket" - my days of computer programming and logic are way behind me and these type of sentences which include numbers, comparisons and dollar amounts confuse me. Kidding - when you try to get a free ticket, you must act blur to a certain extent so it doesn't look so blatant. If that helps at all.
Secondly, I had Nigel jumping up and down behind me saying "Daddy, Shannon is 4! She's 4! F-O-U-R!! Remember?? We celebrated her birthday? She's FOUR YEARS OLD!!"
I tried to distract Nigel by pointing out a cat to him and covering his mouth with my hand. Shannon didn't quite know what was going on. The lady politely told me that I had to pay the price, before writing down "Singaporean" in her customer form.
And so was Nigel, when I was trying to wrangle a free ticket for Shannon up the tower in Malacca during our recent holiday trip. As most of you parents know, it's always fun to take your kids on a ride somewhere, and if you can get it for free, why not? So when you read a sign that says "Children under 3 free", your heart skips a beat and you eye the kids in their youthfullness and wonder if the cashier has any experience in the age-analysis of a short person standing 4 feet away. And most of the time, if you think about it, they most definitely do, and it's mainly because they have to deal with scheming, lying cheapskates like us everyday. So they stand up, look at the child in question, look at you and if you're lucky (or if your child really qualifies) you get the free-one.
But on this attempt where I was trying to convince the lady that Shannon was three (given that two was really pushing it), two things went against me.
Firstly, the sign said "Children 3 and older need a RM10 ticket" - my days of computer programming and logic are way behind me and these type of sentences which include numbers, comparisons and dollar amounts confuse me. Kidding - when you try to get a free ticket, you must act blur to a certain extent so it doesn't look so blatant. If that helps at all.
Secondly, I had Nigel jumping up and down behind me saying "Daddy, Shannon is 4! She's 4! F-O-U-R!! Remember?? We celebrated her birthday? She's FOUR YEARS OLD!!"
I tried to distract Nigel by pointing out a cat to him and covering his mouth with my hand. Shannon didn't quite know what was going on. The lady politely told me that I had to pay the price, before writing down "Singaporean" in her customer form.