Is Anyone Else Getting Worn Out By The ‘New Normal’?

The level of service keeps sinking while the prices keep going up and it's getting to be a bit much.

This weekend I took my kid up to Fargo to see the Monster Jam show. He has been obsessed with monster trucks for a while but then the pandemic came and wiped out live shows. This was our first chance to finally see the trucks in person and he was pumped up!

We paid just over $200 for the tickets, plus gas and food and all of the other costs associated with taking a road trip to North Dakota.

The doors were supposed to open at 10:30 a.m. so we showed up around 10:20 and got in line outside the stadium. It was very cold outside and there were a TON of little kids waiting to get in.

The staff at FargoDome opened the doors late despite the cold and due to (I'm guessing) a 'staffing shortage,' they only opened two doors on our side of the building for all the people waiting to get in. Two doors for all of the people to enter the venue while the waiting area was in the cold outdoors.

If there is going to be an extended wait due to only a couple of doors being open, it seems like it would be easy enough to put a disclaimer on the FargoDome website or social media. Just a little heads up like 'hey, keep in mind due to staffing shortages there may be a longer than normal wait to enter the venue.' Not hard.

To make matters worse the security theater was on full display and made the process to enter the venue take way, way longer than it rightfully should have. Someone explain to me why a four-year-old has to empty his pockets and remove his stocking hat before he can go see some monster trucks. They even had me remove my shirt (they called it a jacket) to see if I was hiding anything. I was wanded twice by two different people despite already emptying all my pockets and complying with their power trip.

There were kids crying outside and crabby parents fuming. I told the security guard as much, to which she replied "I don't care, that's not my problem." Nice.

We went down to check out the trucks and decided to get something to eat. Despite the fact that there were well over 10,000 people in attendance there were very few concession stands open. The lines to get anything to eat or drink were insane.

We waited in line for some pizza for 22 minutes only for the cashier to tell us (while snapping gum) that it would be a 45 minute wait. For pizza.

Again, if you are out of pizza, maybe make an announcement or a sign so people aren't missing half the show waiting for non-existent pizza. The new normal seems to be overpromise, overprice and underdeliver.

At some point businesses are going to have to meet consumers in the middle, whether by lowering prices, lowering attendance or at the very least just being more up front about what to expect when you arrive when it comes to staffing and supplies.