Full price babies at the Olympics

[littlepinklizard]

I'm shocked by the conversation I just had with the London 2012 ticketing poeple. My dh and I were lucky enough to get tickets to the horse jumping on 8 August. Our baby is due 2 June, so was enquiring about what I need to do about tickets for the new baby.

They said eveyone needs a ticket - fine.
Children's tickets are £1 - fine.
But there are no children's tickets for the horse jumping so I have to pay £95 to have a 3 month old in a sling!!!
I said I was planning to bf and couldn't go without the baby.
They said the only alternative was to re-sell my ticket or give it to someone else.

I can't justify £95 and I know lots of people who would love the ticket so I guess I just have to transfer it. But I am fuming.

AIBU or are the 2012 people?

Bobble, you say it's not about hating children. Your post says otherwise.

I am just imagining someone from a less uptight country than ours reading this thread. They'd think us a nation of loons.

I don't hate children at all. Just not badly parented ones. Regarding babies, I love babies, even have one myself but I do not want to be stuck next to somebody else's screaming baby (that they refuse to take out) at any event I have paid money for.

What about that do you not understand?

You're right. Your phrase "badly behaved brats" was written in a doe-eyed state of baby love. How could I possibly have misread the whole tone of your post?!

People don't want to be stuck next to some self obsessed woman and her screaming baby that she is ignoring, get over it.

Not relying on oversimplistic caricatures, are you? Those kind of acerbic imagination-driven generalisations are impossible to take seriously. But I think you're probably more interested in writing for effect than being taken seriously, so, as you were.

I've got to be honest and wonder why people pay so much to watch what is in effect a marketing exercise for London and for capitalism.

I'm a big sport fan but i'd struggle to even watch this nonsense on the telly let alone pay for the "I love London" show.

Synchronised farting and competing well whilst getting soundly thrashed isn't a spectacle i'd freely pay for.

LineRunner has said it all for me really, but is anyone else now imagining seas of screaming, breast feeding babies with just the occasional childless spectator dotted here and there? I mean surely we are only talking about a very small occurrence of a very young bf infant, or has the prospect of the Olympics 2012 created some kind of baby boom the likes of which the world has never seen ?

wormy was just going to post along those very lines. All those poor people who have tickets and don't have children - they won't get to see any actual sport, they'll be too busy getting disturbed by all the milky boobs and screaming babies. Funny how you rarely notice milky boobs and screaming babies on a day-to-day basis, but somehow the Olympic stadium will be absolutely full of them,devastating the chances of our athletes.

I wonder if we would be having this discussion if the Olympics were taking place in Spain or Italy? I suspect not.

W0rmy, I think the answer to your question is 'yes'; reading the more absurd posts on here it seems that's exactly what some people are imagining!

There was also an article in The Times about it yesterday. Maybe with the issue in the open now, they might change their policy? I don't mind paying your age or even half price - what I do mind is getting the tickets? I don't think, it'll be easier 2nd time round ....

The noise of a couple of babies will destroy our athletes' chances for medals? So, erm, how come the organisers were selling children's tickets in the first place?

I like the presumption that only British athletes have supersonic hearing/are that easily distracted, and will thus lose out on medals, too.

I've never actually been to anything like the Olympics, but I know the crowd can get loud (and incredibly abusive towards the players) at football matches, and yet the away team has been known to win, despite that. Just occasionally, you know.

Surely a slight "ehhhhhhh, ehhhhh" for milk in the midst of cheers would be child's play? (Yeah, that's a terrible pun.)

I actually think people will be more irritated and annoyed by the three year-olds than by a week-old baby. But for some reason it seems to be the babies that are causing all the fury.

Oh for the love of humanity. It is NOTHING TO DO WITH THE NOISE!!! The 'I hate children and think they should all be left at home til the age of 18/21" lunatics should move to a different thread, because I thought this was supposed to be about the fact that the organisers of the Olympics had cocked up and thereby effectively invalidated some people's tickets by not taking account of the fact that new people would have come into the world between purchase of tickets and actual event.

Not only is it vicious and child-phobic bollocks to say that babies will be a massive pest, it is totally IRRELEVANT.

Humpf.

Didn't some schoolchildren get given tickets for free?

Think how excited they'll be! Now, newborn babies sleep during the day.

Mind you, I do want to amend my previous point, about athletes being able to tolerate noise.

It may not be true about the horses being able to put up with spectator noises. I know little about horses, and I don't want to make a claim one way or the other, when I know nowt.

Flowerface: "I thought this was supposed to be about the fact that the organisers of the Olympics had cocked up and thereby effectively invalidated some people's tickets by not taking account of the fact that new people would have come into the world between purchase of tickets and actual event."

You're absolutely right. But the red herrings are so distracting and fun to pounce on.

This is Wimbledon's policy (taken from their website):

Babes in Arms and Children under 5 years:

?We recommend that babes in arms and pushchairs are not brought to The Championships as the Grounds are large and crowded.
?A ticket is not required for those under 5.
?Babes in arms and children under five are NOT allowed in the Show Courts (Centre Court, No.1 Court, and Courts 2, 3, 12 and 18)
?A limited number of baby changing facilities are available on site.
Children 5 years and over

?A ticket (full price) is required
?Children in this category are allowed into all courts provided that they have their own seat and do not disturb other spectators.
?NOTE: Children under 12 years MUST be accompanied by an adult at ALL times

Goodness I agree with flowerface some of the opinions expressed on here are frankly ridiculous. The argument is nothing to do with noise it's about choice, access and fairness. We should all as citizens surely have the choice as to whether we want to attend the Olympics. Others may have an opinion and some would definitely choose not to contemplate attending with young dcs, but others would having considered the difficulties.
It's discriminatory to suggest someone takes too much room or makes too much noise and so can't come. What if we were talking about disabled people, teenagers, obese people or just ignorant ones. I've met them all thankfully at public events and sure sometimes it's annoying but we live in a society made up of all of us.
The argument is about making it accessible for people like myself who have been lucky enough to get family tickets for my family of 4 and have since had the fortune to conceive since then and will have a 8 week babe. I have considered the aggro and stuff in going but as the tickets are for Greenwich park with no seats and open grass I have decided that we can manage. But under the current policy it looks highly unlikely I will get entry as it's oversubscribed and I need another ticket. A full price one for my babe would be extortionate as the only reason we bid at all was because of the age related ticket policy.
Also childcare for us who live 7 hours away from London would not bf possible and would distress me and the baby more than any enjoyment of going to the Games.

I'm going to be taking a 3 and a 4yo to see some athletics (they get to pay their age, which seemed like a great bargain). They are already excited and will probably make lots of noise!
With luck I will also have a 5 month old baby, who will have spent its five months being carted all round London as I do this and that. The Olympics isn't going to be more traumatic than the Tube in rush hour, Oxford St, cinema, fireworks displays, etc.

I'm quite happy to pay an admin charge so the security people can issue the baby a ticket to sit on my lap and know how many people are on site. Airlines manage this all the time.

The stupid thing is that I can't give Locog money and they won't do this unless there happens to be a physical seat for an adult in the stadium, which the baby wouldn't be sitting on even if I can get one because it won't be able to sit up yet! Totally pointless.

Time to FOI DCMS (Locog aren't covered) as to why they decided to make seats a requirement rather than allowing babes-in-arms like Wimbledon, previous Olympics in Vancouver, and airplanes all do...

I agree that Babies should not be charged or require a seat

alorsmum - That's very kind. I need to either call them now I've found our tracking number, or fix my laptop to find out what day it is - it could be that one. Will PM you.

I do wonder what would happen if someone did get a separate seat for their baby and put the baby in it - surely they'd be immediately done for neglect?!