Get off your lazy bum, do something!

By Kyra-lin Hom

The weather as of late has been absolutely beautiful. I'm all too well aware of the shining sun as my mom keeps trying to shove me into it. So I thought, it is summer and I am being forced out of my upstairs anyway since the wood floors are being refinished (please excuse any lack of coherency my writing may possess, as this is my first night back in my fume-filled house). Therefore, after much deliberation, I decided to crash at my friend's house with a small company of other friends and have a two-day and two-night movie marathon in his completely windowless basement - not quite the outdoor experience my mom had in mind.

That is hardly the first time my friends and I have simply "hung out" at another person's house. We chat, play video games, watch movies, play board games, prepare strangely edible concoctions such as macaroni and cheese with cocoa powder instead of cheese; the usual. Occasionally we go outside and wander around, though that is usually after that nasty sun has set way beyond the horizon. Essentially we do very little. I've never given it a second thought. That's just how it's always been. It was my mom who proposed the question, "Why don't you guys ever go out and actually do something?"

The answer is simple: money.

The average teenager has very little expendable income. Those of us who don't have time for a job - be it because of school, sports, mandatory volunteer hours, or any other activity - are lucky if our parents are kind enough to still give us allowances. Those of us who do have time for jobs are limited by the quality of job available to high school or fresh out of high school students. Plus, anyone under the age of 18 is only allowed to work 20 hours a week. In either scenario outrageous gas prices, food, clothes, and whatever other expenses parents choose not to cover still quickly wear down small incomes.

Everything nowadays costs money. My friends and I prefer eating in at home because that food is free (for us). Restaurants can easily average $10+ per entr/e without drinks or appetizers. The cheapest fast food restaurants can add up after a while too - plus, aren't the teenagers of the fattest country in the world supposed to be dissuaded from eating unhealthy foods like those served at fast food joints?

The Pacific Science Center, the Imax, the EMP, the Science Fiction Museum, and any first run movie theatre all cost around $10 per person just to get in, food being another matter entirely. Second run theatres are now getting more expensive as well, which only further puts off the customers who are paying for bad food, uncomfortable seats, and old movies they didn't really want to see anyway.

Arcades such as Gameworks and the Family Fun Center can run up petrifying bills within the span of only an hour. The games are addicting and the game cards don't feel like money as they are swiped through slide after slide. Places that offer prizes in exchange for won tickets are even worse. There is a goal to be worked towards so the money flows even more freely to achieve this must-be-earned prize. Soon $30 have gone to buy a $5 toy.

Hence comes the "mall rat" mentality, but that's bad too. Hang around desirable merchandise long enough and soon you will purchase it.

Money leaks out everywhere, and that is why teenagers prefer to just "hang out" to the ever-growing irritation of whoever's house is being occupied.

To provide a kind of murky dull light at the end of the tunnel and in the hopes of stimulating any imagination, I offer the following solutions: the Elliot Bay water taxi, picnics, going to the park or beach, swimming or wading in the ocean or public wading pools, taking a video camera and filming a "movie," taking a digital camera and having a photo shoot, etc.

The problem is, without a sponsored event, anyone wishing to save money has to get a little more creative. There are ways to get out without spending lots of cash, so get off your lazy bum and do something!

Kyra-lin Hom can be reached at kl_hom@yahoo.com