Cheap Entertainment

Are you wondering what families do for cheap entertainment?  Times are changing.  Money is tight.  People are out of work.  Inflation is rampant.  What are families doing for cheap entertainment.  Staying home watching the tube or scoping out a Netflix movie doesn't count.  Getting out of the house and doing something:  That's entertainment!

Back in the day when few families had a pot to piss in there were options for cheap entertainment.  Take the drive-in movie and buck night.  A buck a car.  Stuff the car full of people.  Bring lawn chairs.  Some sat outside.  The rest sat inside the car.  Candy, popcorn, drinks. . . all from home.  No need to buy then expensive snacks and drink at the snack bar.

Most drive-ins had a small playground that sat in front of the screen.  Any family coming before dark and too early for the movie would let their kids play on the playground (and without concern someone would take one of their precious little darlings.....those were the days).  We're run around in our p.j's and not think a thing about it (wearing p.j.'s were necessary for getting home late so dad could carry us into the house and into bed).  While we romped mom and dad would sit in the car and enjoy a semi-quiet quasi-date night.  Back then I guess you could call that quality time.

Today most all of the drive-in's have been dozed in favor of condos or shopping malls.  Where there were once 4,000 drive-ins in our country there are now about 430.   Any family wanting to get out of the house to take in a movie now pays a kings ransom at the walk in movie and has to mortgage something to buy a little popcorn.  Gone are the buck a car load days of old.

It would be nice once in a while to pack up the dogs, pickup some dinner and take in an outdoor movie.  I'd even wear my p.j.'s and run around the playground.  Bet I'm not the only one who longs for that experience.