Zeno's Bar & Grill

I’m convinced somebody is trying to manipulate the laws of supply and demand when it comes to one popular summer camp in our town. According to local mommy-lore, the only way to get into this particular program is to show up early and stand in line before the sign-ups, which take place at a nearby junior high.

That’s all fine and good, but for a while now, I’ve had a firm rule: I won’t stand in line for sign-ups any longer than half an hour. If it’s so cutthroat that the parents are forced to duke it out any earlier than that, I don’t even want to be a part of it. So, on Saturday morning, I rolled in as planned, at 7:30, feeling reasonably well-prepared. I had pre-written my check. Hey, I’d even had time to take a shower.

My first sign that I was perhaps a smidge on the late side was the parking lot jam-packed with mom-mobiles. The second tip-off was when I noticed that people were actually camped out in lawn chairs at the front of the line. May I remind you, this is for a day camp. A week long day camp. As in tee shirts, lanyards and sunburns. One friend told me she’d arrived at 6:45 A.M.

The irony of it all? In the end, my daughter got into the same session as my friend’s. And loads of people behind me also got in. Is this just a cruel joke on stressed-out moms? Lawn chairs. I still can’t believe it. This is no reason to bring out the lawn chairs. These people have lost all perspective. For this, there should be concert tickets or free money when the doors open.

--Melanie