Come on In - The Water's Fine

This week it seems that Outdoor Recreation on base has said that the prices for passes for the pool on base has increased. Last year, I believe the price was 60 dollars for a family. This year the price has increased to $150 for a family of 4 and $10 for each additional family member.

Now,  many of you are up in arms about this and to some degree, I do understand. As military families, we are on a fixed income. Its a bit unfair of the base to pop this information on families a week before school lets out and kids are expecting frequent visits to the pool. A fair warning to save for this expense would have been nice since its not like our spouses can just work overtime to help make a bit of extra cash to cover it. The increase in prices definitely puts a damper on the possibility of spending the days relaxing in the sun, so I understand.

But, in the same breathe, I understand where the base is coming from as well. Budget cuts have hit the branches hard and when it comes to providing equipment for the troops who are fighting overseas or family recreation, well, family recreation is going to be cut. The current administration over time had cut the funds given to the military drastically over the last few years and the various branches have to make due with what they are given. If you're husband were to be deployed, what would be more important to you - that he has the equipment that he needs (armored vehicles, weapons, ammunition, ect) or a cheaper pool pass? I think given the choice, we're going to pick our spouses safety over our luxuries.

150 dollars may seem like alot, but for those who choose to utilize the pool on a regular basis - it equals out pretty quickly. The pool currently charges $4 per person/per visit.  For a family of four, this equals 16 dollars per visit.  If you visit the pool ten times during the summer, you have just spent $160 and most people plan to visit the pool more than 10 times in the course of the 3 summer months. This makes the pool pass a great deal, even at the higher price.

The money you are paying is covering the upkeep of the pools and for the lifeguards who are there to protect you. These expenses use to be paid for by the military, hence why the pool passes in the past were much cheaper. Alas, budget cuts and allotment of funds are dictated by the needs of the troops and so pool upkeep and lifeguards are unnecessary expenses in the eyes of the government.  However, Edwards has decided to try to keep the pool open for us but that comes with a price tag.

Many have mentioned going offbase and paying cheaper prices for pools off base.. This is a choice we all have but know one thing - when the cost of operations for the pool exceeds the amount of revenue being brought in by paying customers, the base will have no choice but to close yet another "luxury" that we have and we will be without.

If I were Outdoor recreation, I think I would have done things just a bit differently. I believe the price is fair, but to me the upfront cost is high. I don't know about you but my family actually has to save for luxury expenses and I am sure that those higher ups on base probably understand this as well. I think it would have been a better decision to offer a payment plan of some sort.. Or, have a "punch card" system - once your family visted the pool enough times to equal a pool pass price (whether its 13 times for a single person to equal the $50 single pass or ten visits for a family of 4) then you automatically are given the pool pass to use for the rest of the season. I think if options like this were given, rather than hitting everyone with a high price tag 1 week before the start of summer, many more people would be less upset with the increase in pricing.

Now on to something a little less serious...

I've been reading your comments both here and on facebook over the course of the week. For the most part, I think many people are glad I started this, if nothing else for the entertainment factor. Some people, not so much. But I wanted to respond to a few comments.

First, on this page itself a comment was left by Mr Robert Petty. (I'm using your name since you went out of your way to leave a second comment to let me know who you were).. Mr Petty, I'm at a complete loss as to any meaning to what you wrote. But, I can assure you, I do not routinely watch reality TV (I think I watched Season 1 of Survivor) and tend to spend most of my time reading. I can assure you that my parents are both extremely proud of me and what I have accomplished in my life and I think I'm safe saying you do not need to worry about my mental health. But thank you so much for your concern.

Mr Adam Hancock - thank you so much for your reply as well.. I do agree, kids misbehaving is not an epidemic limited only to Edwards AFB but since that is my target audience with this blog, I decided to discuss the problem here.  There are some good parents out there who are indeed scared of disciplining their children - we live in a world right now where CPS has way too much power and parents are not given enough. I also believe we as a culture rely way too much on television and not enough of getting our children outside with us. When was the last time you saw someone outside playing catch with their kids?? TV is a terrible influence on our generation, we wouldn't hire a babysitter who said or did some of the things we allow our kids to watch, so why do we feel its appropriate on tv. I commend you on being active in raising your kid, my hat is off to you - Good Job Dad. I wish more parents were like you  and Mrs Jillian Johnson :)

To the rest of the comments here on the blog, thank you. Munoz family, Brenda Prince, LeaLynn, Morpheus. I appreciate your feed back. (PS - Morpheus - I absolutely loved the "go do some yard work" comment. Spot on)

Now on to the FB comments. I will leave those nameless as I said I would not plaster anyones name on this blog. I saw alot of comments that were in support of this blog - thank you. Like what I say or don't, that's perfectly fine and I am glad you are taking this blog for what it is, my opinion. One person said it best - "Opinions are like assholes - we all have one".. Yup, this is for certain. With that said - here's my response to some of the others. First, threatening to report me to the Commander of base - absolutely ridiculous. The Commander would probably laugh and hell, for all I know, he already reads this blog and agrees 100%.   (Morpheus??)

As military spouses, we still have this thing called Freedom of Speech - nothing in the paperwork my husband signed when he joined the Armed Forces revoked my right to this. I am indeed allowed an opinion about things that affect my life. I stated in my first posting, I will not write anything about the AF itself - if I were to step over that line THEN there might be a problem that Command would worry about. Until then, I'm just another spouse running off her big mouth - pure and simple.

Until next time....