OPINION:
I went to Wolf Trap last Saturday, and it was embarrassing. Handicap parking in Lot 4 that was formerly available is now restricted to only those purchasers of orchestra-seating tickets. I guess one’s severity of handicap increases with the purchase of higher-priced tickets.
I joined a small group of approximately eight seniors who stood close to the ticket booth watching everyone else file in while awaiting the release of senior tickets — which would not be released until half-an-hour before showtime. We were joined by a young family — father, mother and baby. I asked the father why he had been shunted over to our line, and he said he was active-duty military, a Marine, and had been told to wait in line with us for the release of active-duty-military discounted tickets. He said, “Gee, I’ve never been a second-class citizen before.” It was embarrassing.
However, the National Park Service was not done with us yet. The young Marine and I happened to arrive at adjacent ticket windows at the same time. When I overheard the ticket clerk tell him he had to purchase a ticket for his 2-year-old son, that, too, was embarrassing.
When exactly did the National Park Service acquire the notion that it is OK to discriminate against seniors and active-duty military as long as they offer these groups a discount? This fact has probably been lost in the fog of bureaucracy.
That their refined policy reflecting this idea serves to limit by embarrassment the participation of seniors and active-duty military members is simply beyond question. By observation I would estimate that less than one half of 1 percent of the tickets sold that day at Wolf Trap were discounted to either seniors or active-duty military. How embarrassing for the nation.
KEN McQUAGE
Baltimore
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