A and P Show

Rhonda Neighbourly Lead from Hastings Central

Hi there,

Love the show, but here is a situation that I think is a bit rough. Two older teens left the show on Friday at 1 pm (they had something they wanted to do and it was planned), they returned at 3:30 pm. They had their stamp on their hand to let them back in. They also had nearly $60 worth of tickets to use on rides as the lines had been so long in the morning, they had only used their tickets for one ride. $60 was the cheapest amount of tickets you can buy (or that was their understanding). The Show advertised that it finished at 5 pm on Friday.

But when they tried to re-enter the grounds at 3:30 pm, and I was with them as I was driving them - the security man on the road outside said, "No Entry". When I asked why, he said, "No, they are moving everyone out now and no-one is allowed back in." I explained they had been given a 'pass out' and they had tickets for the rides which they had paid for. He was insistent that 'they' were directing people to leave now and were closing things down.

I thought this wasn't right and so explained that if that was the case, we would go in and get a refund on the tickets for the rides. At this point, I wasn't asking, I was quite firm with my intentions - polite but firm.

So, he allowed us to enter the grounds.
My next dilemma was that I hadn't paid to get in at all. And the ticket booth had clearly closed down. I never intended to go in, but thought I should go in to see what was going on.
To my surprise and delight, the rides were all still going and although lots of people were heading out, no-one was being encouraged out. Stalls were still up and going and it seemed to me it was business as usual.
I can't see why the man on the road would have told us they couldn't go back inside, and I can't see why he thought it was all over at 3:30 pm.
What concerns me is if I hadn't been with the kids, they would have probably just accepted what he said and turned around to come on home. And how many others got turned away who could have gone in and spent money on items from stallholders who were paying to be there till 5 pm and hoping for more sales.
I can understand them saying, no more tickets being sold after a certain time, but 3:30 seems a little early and if they are giving people pass out stamps to come back in, they need to explain that they can only come back before a certain time if that is indeed the case.
Anyway, no harm done really - but I don't think it was right to turn the kids away in the first place. And I am feeling uneasy that I got in without paying - but if I hadn't felt I needed to escort them in, that would never have been the case. And once I saw they could use their tickets, I decided I may as well stay as what was the point of going home only to have to come back and get them - so I wandered around and enjoyed seeing some pretty cool local people with their stands and products.
Don't beat me for staying once I was in! I am aware of the moral dilemma there.