Waiting in Line

Excerpt

Several of our grandchildren are going to visit us during their winter breaks from school. The visits will include a trip to Winterplace to snow tube. Regulations require that a potential snow tuber be over 44 inches tall and capable of riding a tube alone—no help from Mom, Dad, or even from grandparents. These regulations challenge our five-year-old grandchildren, but the youngsters come with their immediate family and can depend on older brothers and fluffy hats to help them meet the requirements. One family will come on the Monday of President’s Day, while the other family will come on a non-holiday Wednesday. The experiences of the families will be vastly different. Our past experiences suggest that each child in the Monday, holiday family will be able to get five or six tube rides during the session, while each child in the Wednesday family be able to go down the slopes over twenty times. Crowds make a tremendous difference in the nature of the experience. The Monday, holiday family will wait in long lines for a ride to the top of the slope and for the ride down the hill; the time spent in the snow tubes will be minimal, but time spent waiting to ride will be extensive. The reverse will be true for the Wednesday family. The cost for the experience will be the same for each child, irrespective of the time spent waiting to ride. …