Give In to Hedonism: What I Learned from Last Saturday's Bomber Game

When I was at the Winnipeg Blue Bombers game last Saturday, my stomach rumbled as I walked around the stadium.  The smell of grilled meat, fries, and mini donuts was unavoidable. 

The price of food at a football game is astronomical.  At the Salisbury House stand, a Salsbury Nip cost almost $5.00.  Drinks alone cost $4.00.  You would think those prices would turn people away from the stands.  Instead, people were lining up to get their quick fix, and I was one of them.

A brilliant way to make money is to overwhelm the senses.  In this case, it's the sense of smell.  Normally, we are supposed to think, not feel in these situations, as we are supposed to watch our wallets.  But we give in to temptation anyway and let our pocketbooks take a bruising.

I gave into temptation and spent almost $7.00 on a bag of fries and a small cup of coffee.  I did because I lost control.  The smells challenged all reason, and the smells prevailed.  I became a few dollars poorer, but I didn't care because my stomach stopped screaming.

Human beings let their hedonistic desires go wild whenever their senses are appealed to.  Our hedonistic pursuit makes it very easy for eateries to draw us in and empty our wallets.  The food is expensive, but so be it, we need to satsify each and every craving.

Some have called such business practices immoral, but I disagree.  If we are to call the practice of selling food at football games immoral, we might as well call Hallmark cards immoral -- food tugs at our stomachs, and sappy poetry tugs at our hearts.  To be emotional is to be human, and our modern economy thrives on all that makes us human. 

It is easy for a human being to lose the sense of equlibrium and batter his or herself financially to please all senses.  Not all human beings, however, are like this.  It is important to remember that an institution's job is not to tame addiction.  An institution's job is to make money.  Institutions make money by knowing what is human.