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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to not understand why so many local parents didn't take their children to the o/para/lympics?

80 replies

LongStory · 09/09/2012 18:41

So the Olympic park is fairly local to me, I'm not a massive sports fan but this is a once-in-a-lifetime something special. I took the kids to a few events especially at the paralympics where it was easier to get tickets. They didn't cost much and in fact most of them only cost £1.40 if you deduct the cost of a child's travelcard.

I had to be a bit organised - buy the tickets, book days off work, sort out/swap childcare for the children who were too young, pack lunches for the day, get up early etc etc. It wasn't rocket science and it didn't cost a fortune. Cheaper than a trip to the movies.

Now we're back to school I'm amazed that lots of seemingly on-the-ball parents haven't bothered to do this, with no clear reason, or no regret. I don't understand (a) why so many didn't, and (b) why this makes me soooo cross.

OP posts:

trifling · 09/09/2012 18:42

I hate sport.

talkingnonsense · 09/09/2012 18:43

Maybe because like me they couldn't get any sodding tickets? It wasn't easy, even for the Paralympics, if you weren't pretty close to a computer.

thepeoplesprincess · 09/09/2012 18:44

Perhaps they didn't want to?

azazello · 09/09/2012 18:44

Perhaps they were worried about the crowds or didn't think the children would be interested, or even that they would get a much better view by watching the telly. It's really not any of your business.

Sirzy · 09/09/2012 18:45

If I had been closer or Ds had been older I would have loved to have attended something. I wouldn't judge those who didn't want to though

heyannie · 09/09/2012 18:46

Not everyone is interested in it. If they don't go, it frees up tickets for people who actually are interested, be it for the sport, architecture, the "once in a lifetime" factor... I went for all three, and it was fabulous! But it shouldn't be obligatory.

jeezlouize · 09/09/2012 18:47

My kids wouldn't have thanked me for it, and it would have been a stressful day. They like to run and play, not sit and watch tiny figures miles away.

HokeyCokeyPigInAPokey · 09/09/2012 18:48

You are being a bit unreasonable.

We went to the paralympics, we also went to Hyde Park and Trafalgar at different times to watch the big screens, we walked miles around London to see all the mascots.

We love it and are gutted it's come to an end but not everyone is and even if they did it was a bloody nightmare to get tickets.

JumpingThroughMoreHoops · 09/09/2012 18:48

Affordability?

Not able to get tickets for mainstream events

The thought of tubes crammed with sweaty people and screaming kids?

My sofa was much comfier

Guitargirl · 09/09/2012 18:51

YABU

We are local, went to the Paralympics, tried and failed to get Olympics tickets. Also went to live site at Victoria Park and I volunteered for one day at the Olympics men's marathon.

But, it certainly wouldn't cross my mind to wonder why other people did not. Not everyone likes sport, mass events, crowds. Not everyone wants to feel 'a part' of an event, which, less face it is heavily sponsored/commercialised. Many local people would have left London for the summer, may have rented out their accommodation. Some locals may have felt pretty bitter about the disruption and struggle to get tickets. Some people might prefer to spend their money on something else.

invicta · 09/09/2012 18:52

I expected it to be stressful with all the crowds, travel etc. However, it was all fairly easy with lots of people around makking oingthoughvsecurity, buying food, travelling home straightforward. If I'd known it would be that easy, I would have tried tonet more tickets. The crowds felt safe.

Insde the stadium , there was enough going on, plus good commentary to keep you interested.

CatOnAHotTinFoof · 09/09/2012 18:53

Couldn't get tickets to anything I might consider taking a day off work for.

WorraLiberty · 09/09/2012 18:53

It's fairly local to me too and we've enjoyed every single minute of the Olympics since the torch relay.

However, we didn't got to any of the events because we just didn't want to.

We didn't want to cram ourselves onto public transport and sit in a crowded stadium, mainly looking up at a large screen....it was far more comfy at home.

I know plenty of people who went for no other reason than to be able to say, "Oh I went to the Olympics/Paralympics in 2012."

SoupDragon · 09/09/2012 18:53

especially at the paralympics where it was easier to get tickets

LOLOLOLOL

onceortwice · 09/09/2012 18:53

My son has HFA. He has a total hatred of being confined. The idea of sitting sit is evil to him. He would hate it and ruin it for anyone close to him.

Should I have taken him regardless and spoilt it for everyone?

No... thought not.

CrocodileDundee · 09/09/2012 18:55

My daughter got free tickets, she is not really interested in sport and didn't want to go, I tried the once in a lifetime line on her, but instead we gave them to people who actually wanted to go and would enjoy it.

She did love going to see the torch and the Olympic torch concert.

Some children just wouldn't enjoy sitting through it.

Bobyan · 09/09/2012 18:57

Maybe they couldn't afford it?
YABU and very judgy.

KarlosKKrinkelbeim · 09/09/2012 18:59

I don't understand why anyone would go. Expense, time, crowds, dragging young children to an event they're most unlikely to remember or most probably enjoy - what amazes me is that people bothered, not that people didn't. But we're all different, aren't we?

RuleBritannia · 09/09/2012 19:00

It's not that people are unwilling to go, it was the price of the tickets plus the cost of travel and I'm only about 50 miles away. At the end of a day, I would not perhaps have wanted to face the travel to the other side of London and thenceforth westwards.

I saw a few events on the athletics track on my television and the opening and closing ceremonies. It was quite obvious that those in the spectators' seats would have seen only ants moving around unless they had Patrick Moore's binoculars.

I think local people should have been able to have more available cheaper tickets, especially those who had to move house to enable the venues to be built.

Ephiny · 09/09/2012 19:01

Because they couldn't get tickets? We applied for lots in advance, but didn't get any, and had no luck trying to buy them later either (despite spending literally hours on the website and being willing to pay £100+ per ticket).

We did see the marathon/triathlon/outdoor swimming though, easy to do as we live and work in London.

PrimrosePath · 09/09/2012 19:01

I'm pleased that you had a fab time, but I don't understand why you would be cross when other people didn't go.

DowagersHump · 09/09/2012 19:01

The games were inaccessible without a computer, broadband and a Visa card.
People without money or means were effectively excluded.

ladygoldenlion · 09/09/2012 19:02

Well we live near Eton Dorney (rowing) and couldn't get tickets at all for either paras or olympics.

OP, you were lucky and we would have been there if we could.

Oh yes, and the other major thing was that you could only book 4 tickets...not great for larger families.

Original poster

LongStory · 09/09/2012 19:02

I kind of know IABU, I think I'm normally very open-minded and slow to judgement on anything. I just needed a bit of help understanding this one, as I was surprised by the strength of my emotional reaction.

Thank you for your comments, it's helpful perspective. I certainly agree about some children struggling to sit still, I didn't take my younger ones for that reason

OP posts:

goldentrousers · 09/09/2012 19:08

I'm in an Olympic borough too and I went to three events with DS. He has HFA and I have to admit wasn't overly enthralled by it. He tolerated it better than, say, a theatre show, because he didn't have to be quiet and it wasn't dark, so he could play games on his phone. But I'm glad I took him, because it was it was a good day out and we rarely go to see sports. The travelling was fine for him but there were so many warnings ahead of the games that it would be overcrowded (it wasn't really) that probably put a lot of people off.

I'm on benefits and cost wasn't an issue for me, for me it was a once in a lifetime event and some of my tickets were free as they were giving them to carers (other families locally also got free tickets due to being part of a local sports team, volunteer groups etc). But I know other families couldn't manage the expense - even the cost of taking time off work on a weekday. Some event tickets we had were less than the cost of going to the cinema.

I think there are also many people (especially in the poorer East London boroughs) who have their comfort zone and don't like to stray outside it, regardless of cost. There are kids in London who have never gone to the seaside (they put on free coaches here) or even into central London, even to free events like the Thames Festival. It's quite sad but it's more poverty of aspiration rather than finances.

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