The Circus Is Dying

Friday we attended the Shrine Circus with the family. It wasnt what I remembered. The last time we went was when I was pregnant with my son to the Ringling Bros Circus. That is a much more expensive show. It was a lot of fun and we bought a snowcone with a keepsake cup. This time I wanted to go because my son has never been and my daughter is getting older (we have gone to circus type shows at a fair with him previously, but that was it). As we walked in there was a gated section of protestor shouting things at us. Definite mood killer. We go inside, getting there early to get good seats. They had animal rides and entertainment. Everything was $10. I wanted to stick to a budget so I only brought $15 cash. I jokingly told my kids only 1 1/2 can ride the elephant. So we sat down and watched everyone else spend money. During the show they kept advertising their items for sale. This was a good opportunity to teach my son not to fall for all the hype that people try to trick you with. I have nothing against them raising money for charity, it just wasnt in my budget to do. My daughter knew the items were over priced, but she wanted a $5 snowcone. This did not come with a cup. I just compromised and said after we can go for ice cream to the Dairy Queen ($12 for four small items). The other disappointing part of the show was the lack of audience enthusiasm. The most excited they got was when they threw out free t-shirts. I know the show wasnt all that great and you can see more exciting videos on the internet, but come on people! You pay all this money for a show and you need to get into it!