You know the feeling.
You get a phone call around 4 p.m. on a weekday, say Tuesday, with the voice of a friend on the other line telling you that he or she has a pair of free Yankee tickets available for the game being played later that night.
The excitement instantly kicks in as you realize, not only do you not have any prior engagements, but also another person in mind who would love to receive a similar phone call and take a trip up to the Bronx with you.
But then, suddenly, as your basking in the glory of “free tickets”, a thought pops into your head – like a big league pop up into the summer night sky. This is not your first trip to Yankee stadium. You realize that this trip up to the cathedral of Major League Baseball will be anything but free. And, you have bills and a budget that most likely does not match that of shortstop Derek Jeter.
Let’s start with the car.
I understand that not everyone will be traveling the same distance, so I will give you a first person account from the perspective of a resident of the New Jersey Shore. Do with it what you would like.
I drive a 2006 Nissan Altima, which, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, gets an average of 23 miles per gallon. So, with gas prices averaging approximately $3.50 a gallon in New Jersey these days, the 183.6 mile round trip from the Jersey Shore to the Bronx and back would cost me about $28.
To go along with the gas, I must then add the cost of traveling both the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike. Using calculators from both roads’ websites, the round trip cost would total $24.80 [$13.30 for the NJ Turnpike and $11.50 for the GSP].
Just when I thought the car costs were over – I must remember to figure in the George Washington Bridge, which will cost me $12 to use to cross from New Jersey into New York in a standard vehicle when paying cash. [The GWB is a one way fee].
Now I’m in New York, I’ve made it right? No more spending, just some Yankee Baseball. I just have to park and… Oh, that’s right.. parking…
Hand the parking attendant two paper bills with Andrew Jackson’s face imprinted on them and I will only be getting back an Abe Lincoln. That’s right… $35.
So, that’s $28 for gas, $24.80 for tolls, $12 for the bridge and $35 to park. That’s $99.80.
I am near the century mark before even seeing the pinstripes.
Now inside “The House That Ruth Built” let us pretend I have eaten something before we left for our “free trip” and that just one hot dog and one beer for each person will suffice. The average beer in the Bronx will run me around $7.25 and a hot dog about $3.00, making it $20.25 for two out of my already crippled wallet. If my guest is a buddy then I can cut that number in half, but if the person I am sharing my night with is a pretty girl, I better be buying. I want her to continue to answer my text messages right?
So there you have it, $120.05 despite having free tickets, or, to put salt in the wound, a payment of one of your monthly bills, four months of a gym membership or just over 12% of the way to one THOUSAND dollars.
The old saying goes that, “Nothing in life is free” and whoever said it first really wasn’t kidding…
Maybe that person knew something the rest did not. Or, maybe they were just a Yankees fan.
