scrubbedexpat091

If I recall correctly the only person who qualifies is the actual member of the military, not family and children but there are discounts available on base.

As for HH and animals sleeping, well that is what they do most of the time, the zoo isn't going to force animals to be on display if the animal chooses not to.

Obviously if your looking to see a large cat going to the exhibit at noon isn't wise, gotta go early in the day, or later in the day when they are naturally most active.

Other then the large cats, most everything else is out most of the time.

Pulaski

That was my point, offer service personnel a freebie and they bring several paying visitors with them, which is effectively pure revenue for the zoo, because the marginal cost to the zoo of admitting one extra visitor is as close to zero as makes no difference.;

paddingtongreen

My time in the REs qualified as previous service for the draft.

scrubbedexpat091

More to do with being a military town more then anything, they have been doing it for most of their existence.

Anyhow the zoo is non-profit and it's a nice gesture.

Beaverstate

I suspect the 'staff' was likely one very tone deaf and historically challenged orderly. Or so I hope.

Pulaski

As you work in the hospitality business I though you would be more in tune with the concept of "marketing". If a quarter of the households in town have a member is current or ex military, it makes sense to offer them a product or service with a low marginal cost e.g. any sort of event or performance (such as museum, zoo, restaurant, show, or concert, other than one which is expected to sell out) for free to military personnel if they are likely to bring multiple "paying passengers" with them, hence the special offers that restaurants commonly offer Monday-Thursday.

scrubbedexpat091

I was pointing out the zoo has been doing it long before they became a major tourist attraction, and in the past most using the free admission were not bringing families back then, and that its simply a nice gesture regardless of why it's being done today.

Ex-military don't get the free admission, only current active service members do.

Regardless of why something is done, it's still a nice gesture considering they are located in a major military city.


I am not in marketing, never have been, never will be. It's not my job to market the hotel, they pay people big $$$$ to do that.

hungryhorace

You must be paid really crummy wages then to think people paid to market a hotel get paid the big money.

scrubbedexpat091

As a night auditor depending on company anywhere from 11 to 13 per hour in Canada with the US being pretty close if you get into a corporate owned or managed property. But I have made as low as 9/hr in the US.

At my last corporate hotel the local marketing people started in the high 30's to low 40's, but its a stepping stone management position so most only do it a few years before moving onto higher management jobs or corporate jobs.

Corporate jobs paid more.

hungryhorace

I think I would not bother working for such wages. How on earth are people expected to live on such a wage?? It's beyond me.

Lion in Winter

Most people don't have the luxury of not bothering. Just look where most of the population of the US falls in terms of income level.

hungryhorace

Sure, but looking at this from a national level isn't fair as the discrepancy between incomes is vast.

I was looking up our county's median family income the other day. It's just under $90k. That's significantly greater than the UK median wage, which reflects the fact that - at least here where I live - the wages people take home are significantly higher than where I lived in the UK (the wealthy south east).

Mrs Danvers

I think poverty in the USA tends to be hidden. Has anyone noticed that trailer parks have huge fences round them so they are hidden from view? My county has a household income of just over 90k too. However there are numerous trailer parks in my city and around the Denver metro area I had no idea existed.

I used to drive from one place to another without ever knowing what was on the other side of the fence. Then I started being a home health nurse. All those people who serve your meals in restaurants in your 90k average household income county must live somewhere. That and admitting poverty in the USA is shameful.

hungryhorace

I can't say I've ever come across a trailer park in America. I know they exist, I have just never visited anywhere that had anything approaching such a place.

Poverty in the US is shameful, as is their lack of universal healthcare. But, hey, they have their 'freedom' right?

Pulaski

Oh, they're there, they're everywhere, not just in Oklahoma and Mississippi.

There's one at 1515 VFW Parkway, West Roxbury, MA and another at 735 Broadway, Malden, MA, both within 5 miles of downtown Boston. .... Even on Google satellite view they are quite an eye-opener, with trailers jammed in side by side.