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Huge problem.
CanadianGam3R
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hey guys, my first post here, and I'd like to say hey to all you guys here.
I've got a problem.. I'm 13 and live in Toronto ontario canada. I really want to visit PAX this year because I really just got interested in it out of no where. I talked to my parents and they said it's "Unrealistic" and "Not possible" I said how? like seriously wtf? They said we don't have passports.. big deal? You can get them pretty quick ( Quick enough that we'll have them before PAX. ) Then they complained about prices etc.
So I've got a question for all of you.. what should I do? I really want to make it there, I wanna talk to bungie and get my self some sweet recon armor and just see everything that's going on as I've never been to PAX or any event like it and I've never been to seattle.
I've got a problem.. I'm 13 and live in Toronto ontario canada. I really want to visit PAX this year because I really just got interested in it out of no where. I talked to my parents and they said it's "Unrealistic" and "Not possible" I said how? like seriously wtf? They said we don't have passports.. big deal? You can get them pretty quick ( Quick enough that we'll have them before PAX. ) Then they complained about prices etc.
So I've got a question for all of you.. what should I do? I really want to make it there, I wanna talk to bungie and get my self some sweet recon armor and just see everything that's going on as I've never been to PAX or any event like it and I've never been to seattle.
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And yes they have every right to complain about prices, when you are old enough to go yourself you can pay your own way there but why the fuck should they have to pay for 3 people at least (you may have siblings who would also need to be taken) to go to a games convention that they are not going to enjoy.
So i'd say you leave it out this year.
So with that taken care of, I'll let the other forumers convince you of just how unrealistic it is to want to go to PAX at this stage, let alone with how young you are (at least alone, anyway).
Small steps, large goal. Keep the faith.
PAX 08 isn't gonna happen aim for PAX 09.
I understand the fact that it's unrealistic to go this year but do you think I'd be able to aim for Pax 09 and make it? Is there gonna be anything special happening at PAX 09 that will be totally ground breaking.. from what you guys have heard of so far?
Also, getting a passport is still kind of a pain in the ass. There's a considerable backlog in processing at the moment, because the recent travel changes to the US have meant that everybody who used to rely on just a driver's license and birth certificate has had to scramble to get a passport. If you go through the standard process, you're looking at a wait of 6-8 weeks, if not longer. You can pay through the nose to have your application expedited, but, well... let's cut to the point here.
You really have no right whatsoever to suddenly demand that your parents fly you out to PAX on the spur of the moment. None at all. You're 13 years old, which means that even if you had a strong work ethic and wanted to pay your own way, you couldn't, because you're not legally employable in Ontario. A flight from Toronto to Seattle costs a metric fuckton, especially on relatively short notice. Plus, you know, passport expenses, hotels, etc. That's the kind of thing you beg for a year in advance as your only present for the year, not something you decide you want, whine for, then ask for advice on how to get when your parents quite rightfully deny you.
PAX will still be there in three or four years. By the time you're 16, you can get a fulltime job over the summer, and see if they'll allow you to pay your own way. (Which they might not, and it would be completely understandable if they didn't; 16 is still pretty young to be gallivanting around the continent on your own, you can't even rent a hotel room by yourself). For now, respect the rules of your parents, and be thankful that you at least have an internet that allows you to participate in the gaming world at all.
and female.
who inhaled from a balloon. Filled with Helium.
and swallowed a Kazoo.
It's not about age it's about how you conduct yourself, and how well your planning is. If you want to go to PAX with your parents for like, a summer vacation trip next year, find some things your parents could do. I don't know really what's in Seattle to do. Is that where the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame is? There's a space needle, and uh...That's it, I think.
You see, the problem is, at 13 people are in a hurry to be treated as adults, when if one was truly a mature 13 year old, one would know you weren't an adult, and your parents know best, and even if they don't there isn't a thing to do about it.
Also, ask yourself, is this something you really want to do? You said you had the idea on a whim. Are you bored from the Summer Doldrums?
Anyway, sorry to get into lecture mode, but I kind of deal with "I'm mature for my age" people all the time. Maybe you are mature for your age, but the best way to show it isn't to tell us we all thing you're a 13 year old spoiled brat, because you don't know what we think.
and I'm done ranting.
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Driving from Toronto to Seattle is over 2,500 miles, give or take. Aside from crossing New York State and a few others, as others have said, this pretty much means crossing the entire continent. You're talking at least 36 hours+ of driving each way, let alone stopping to sleep and eat, traffic, construction delays, etc.
A quick search shows that flying in for that weekend would be about $2000+ in total roundtrip for 2 adults and 1 child, plus whatever you paid for hotel, food, rental car, etc.
I don't mean to be a jerk at all, I really don't, but....If you were as mature as you're claiming, you wouldn't need to argue the point.
Just take some time, raise some funds, make some realistic plans - by all accounts, PAX is going to be around for quite a few years to come.
When I was 13 years old, my parents told me where we would be going on vacation, not vice versa, and I thanked them kindly for letting me tag along. You say you're in no hurry to become an adult, and that's awesome - too many kids these days try to grow up too fast, I'd give anything to be 13 years old without a care in the world again. Back then, the job I bitched about to my friends was a paper route that took me 20 minutes a day, relationships consisted of sneaking behind the fence at school to hug Johnny Woods, and my total expenses in any given month ranged from $0 to $50, depending on how much Lego and candy I bought with my allowance.
But the flip side of that glorious halcyon just-kids-being-kids lifestyle is pretty obvious: you are a kid, and you will be treated as one, and that means you don't get to make the adult decisions about things like how your parents should spend their hard-earned money, and where your family should go on vacation. (Which, assuming your parents work, usually needs to be planned more than a month in advance so they can actually, you know, get time off).
I would strongly advise against getting your heart set on going to PAX next year, too. There is not very much appreciable difference between being 13 and being 14. You still won't be able to work to contribute money, and you'll still be too young to be set loose unaccompanied on a crowded convention hall filled with thousands of complete strangers.
Wait a few years. And even then, don't decide the month before that you really want to go: plan it months, preferably a year, in advance. Save up every cent you can afford, plead your case to your parents, research things for them to do and see in Seattle, and accept that they are completely within their rights to say no anyway.
Also, you seem to not have a grasp of money. When parents complain about money its usually because they have the money tied up in other, more important things. I remember being 13 and thinking the whole world is against me, but really, this is nothing. You parents are right.
Slightly OT: you are also the first 13 year old I've seen on this forum. I didn't know that was the part of the demographic here. And hopefully you aren't the usual 13 year old who ruins games on Live.
PAX is actually recommended for 13 year olds or older so funny story about that xD.
I'd consider us above average in the class system of earning so, if I tell them that I'm willing to wait till next years exhibition, they could probaly partition away the funds to go on vacation and get pass ports by then. Thanks for all the insight guys, really helped.
As I said aswell. My parents are above average in the funds department so I don't think they're that tied up with cash and they always want to go and summer vacations.
And like I said before, it's not how you sound, it's how you act.
And to respond to the OT: As a one of those people that sounds like he's 13 on XBL, let me tell you, That shit SUCKS when people think you're a kid when you're damn near 23.
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I know I'm not like..
*Deep voice* LOLOLOL NUB JUST GOT PWNED HEHEHEHEHHEH.
I'm more like, BREAK THE ENTRANCE MOVE MOVE ROGER ROGER kinda hardcore stuff you know what I'm sayin?
Dude, I'm an adult, with a disposable income, and live in the US, and it would be a pretty fucking huge undertaking for ME to pick up and go to PAX. Listen to your parents.
I'm now locking my kid in a box until he's 18, and I'm telling him that it's because of YOUR POST. Be on the lookout for a psycho killer in about 18.5 years.
Even if you're right (which let's be honest, you have limited knowledge at best of how much money is tied into investments right now, what the bills are, what is locked into savings, etc), spending probably a thousand USD+ for you to go to a gaming convention you just heard of, probably isn't a big deal to them.
Lemme tell ya, you're gonna get sick of shit like this... I wish not being able to go to PAX was a huge problem in my life.
I hate to pick on you, but that's not accurate.
http://www.ppt.gc.ca/cdn/section6.aspx?lang=eng®ion=Canada
I went for a passport renewal three weeks ago, and I got my new one in a week and a half (and they mailed it).
And if you need it really, really fast:
"Urgent applications
These services are only available to applicants applying for a passport in person at a Passport Canada service location within Canada.
Urgent
within 24 hours CAN$70 + passport fee
Express
from 2 to 9 working days CAN$30 + passport fee"
I wish I could be that hardcore.
Definitely aim for Pax 09. How do you think I feel :P I live in Australia, I have no chance.
Well, I am 18, but still. Listen to your mother and father.
I'm not trying to belittle you, but at 13 theres some things you dont really understand. I didnt realize it either when i was a kid, because i also thought i was mature for my age. You cant really appreciate what its like to work, to earn money. The value you place on that money. And most importantly, how valuable free time becomes, because once you start working you get little of it. At your age you have massive amounts of free time. Your parents do not, so they are going to want to spend their vacation time doing something they really want to do... and you get to tag along to that, until you're old enough to pay for and take your own vacations.
Just to be clear, its just as likely that the reason they wont take you is how much TIME it will take, as how much it will cost. They may have taken you if it was in your home town, because thats just an afternoon. You're asking them to give up at least 2 days, probably 3, on top of the time necessary to arrange, plan, and pack for such a trip.
I must hear your voice.
Holy shit. That's new (well, not -new-, but they did remove the promise for a while there). Guess the backlog is finally thinning out.
And I have met a -few- people who can get the passport done pretty fast, but it seems completely dependent on luck, and whether or not you have any kind of government record. A criminal background of any kind, an unpaid parking ticket, late on your taxes...pretty much any of that stuff seems to get your application flagged for further review. Otherwise they will occasionally boot it out to you fast enough.
Uh, what?
"Beginning January 31, 2008, U.S. and Canadian citizens 19 years and older who enter the U.S. at land and sea ports of entry from within the Western Hemisphere will need to present government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license as proof of identity, along with proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or naturalization certificate, or a passport. Children age 18 and under will be able to enter with proof of citizenship. Verbal claims of citizenship and identity alone will not be sufficient to establish identity and citizenship for entry into the United States.
Note: Children age 18 and under will need to present a birth certificate, naturalization certificate or a passport to enter the U.S."
So, while you don't need a passport, you would then need a license AND birth cert (or just the birth cert if you're under 19). And who carries one of those around?
Source
I don't believe it - I'm on my THIRD PS3, and my FIRST XBOX360. What the heck?
There's nothing wrong with occasionally bringing up the fact that you'd really like to go to a PAX, though. Do any of your relatives live around there? If PAX could be combined with "visiting Aunt Susan and her adorable baby" then your parents may be more willing to go for it. Oh, and if you get an allowance, start saving it; they'll probably be more amenable if you can pay for your plane ticket and other expenses (although, given the price of plane tickets . . . well . . .)
In the end you may have to suck it up until you're old enough to get a job, earn your own money, and travel around on your own.
Somehow I doubt (please don't prove me wrong, OP) he's planning to hitchhike across the border and most of the continental US, or something equally insane...he's not getting to PAX by himself no matter how much he wants.
He can't even work legally yet, let alone drive, how would he even pay for it?
As several people have mentioned now, he's just gotta suck it up and most likely wait until he's old enough to self-fund the trip and be trusted to travel alone.
Not really thread related. But truer words have never, ever been spoken. People who work part time can't even appreciate it as much. There is nothing more crippling to your time than a mon-fri 8-4 job.
Flight from Toronto to Seattle $288 or more per person
Flight from Seattle back to Toronto another $288 or more per person
Hotel 1 bed room to share with a parent ~ $150 per night
Overall, your looking at around $2000 for this little weekend excursion that you want to go on. And that doesnt include cab fare, or entrance fee's at PAX, or the actual costs of anything you might want to buy like food and memorabilia.
(Flights are priced out according to Air Canada, the government subsidized airline in Canada. Hotel prices priced out according to the cheapest hotel listing from the PAX'08 website.)
For $2k you could get a brand new plasma TV, a new living room sofa set, or any other number of things that your parents might want, like paying down their mortgage or possible car payments. Or if you guys are renting, saving up for a downpayment on a house, or contributing towards their retirement.
Beyond that, I know what it costs to feed kids, and a 13 year old boy can easily go through $200 a week in groceries unless you do alot of cost effective home cooking.
MWO: Adamski
Sure there is. Taking a second job to supplement your 40 hour a week income, or working 80 hour workweeks for an ibanking firm, for example. Just for argument's sake, and not really relevant to the overall thread.
But yeah, it's the sad reality until you start making big money; the harder you work to be able to truly enjoy your free time, the less of it you have to enjoy.