DISCOUNT THIS - by: Sarah L.

So I stood in line to pay for my parking at the hospital down at Penn, sweating at the fact that I only had $7 on me and parking for patients up to 3 hours was $6. One would tell me that I had plenty to pay for parking but I was dying of hunger and exhausted from being without coffee so early in the morning.  Behind the parking attendant stood a coffee shop with bagels, it was just what I wanted to begin my day but unfortunately the parking ticket would hinder my chances to get my much needed caffeine and food intake.  I stood third in line, behind two older couples. I  heard  the first “old woman” in front of me announce she was not only a patient, to get herself the $6 parking ticket but she was also a senior citizen bringing her ticket down to a small price of just $4. The second older patient in line also took advantage of this discount and only paid $4. Then as I approached the front of the line I started to cringe inside thinking about this “discount” they had received, but assumed there had to be other discounts that I could take advantage of when I got up there. NOPE...nothing but a patient and senior citizen discount existed. I got so angry and fired up about this situation, mostly because I was starving and if I was also only allowed to pay $4 as they had then that would leave me with enough money for a coffee and perhaps a bagel as well.  But at the front of the line, I could only announce I was a patient and given the same discount that almost everyone is able to take advantage of….and $6 it was….and I went home angry, exhausted and with a  empty stomach.

 

So this is when I began to Google senior citizen discounts and really think about this.  Why is it that senior citizen don’t have to pay as much money for things that we do? I asked my roommate this question last night and she told me it was because they didn’t have jobs and therefore no income so get to pay less for things, just as there are student discounts to support this as well.  This kind of made me madder because they have a retirement fund and lifesaving that they do indeed live off of. And plus if that is the true and real reason for a student and senior citizen discount then it really should be changed to be called a discount for the unemployed or jobless, and  then I will come to accept discounts such as those that caused me to not get my breakfast last Friday morning.  So this also got me fired up at the fact that in a lot of stores there are discounts for teachers.  My roommate also calmed me down by explaining they don’t make much money so they also get a discount. This to me is absurd because my sister is a teacher in the lower Merion district and makes more money than I do as a nurse, but when we go out shopping together I have to pay full price for items while she can hand them her teaching id and get 15% off.  It’s not really fair that I have to stand behind people in line and listen to them mention the discount they are granted, while I am then rung up at the normal higher price.  I know this may seem like a trivial thing that gets under my skin, but I feel that everyone should be entitled to these small discounts and have to pay the same price for things.  So next time you see me in line for something, don’t be surprised if I use the teacher, student or even senior citizen card to get myself a discount so I can get my much needed breakfast.