A couple weeks ago my mom, Chloee and I went to Niagara Falls. We bought a hotel package that included a very attractive voucher: $100 off at a restaurant (which I won't name) with the purchase of 2 dinner entrees. I told my friends about this deal and they actually thought that the $100 would be enough to cover 2 dinner entrees, drinks and a salad, all for the 3 of us to share. What a great deal! I had my doubts, but hey, $100 off is $100 off!
But when we opened the menu, we saw that the average price of an entree was $80. To make a long story short, we ended up paying almost an extra $100 on top of the voucher. Did we actually think that the restaurant, a business, would cover our tab with a voucher???
The lesson here for children (and apparently for us!) is that there is no such thing as a free lunch. There are so many clever marketing schemes out there that make consumers vulnerable to scams. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of great legitimate deals that one can find, but for every jaw-dropping sale, there is a cunning promotion tricking you into purchasing their product or service. The most important point here is to teach your kids to be aware that some amazing promotions are too amazing to be true. Don't let the temptation of scoring a great deal cloud your judgement!
After saying all this though, we'll still go back to that restaurant because its food is really good!
