ntt@dciem.UUCP (Mark Brader) (02/15/84)
While traveling in a foreign country (not the US), I encountered an interesting practice at a tourist attraction. To protect their business, I will keep the attraction very anonymous. Well, this attraction has two parts or areas, which I will call X and Y. Now X is something not found just anywhere, but there are other comparable ones in the within a few miles of the place. But although Y is something related to X, they claim that there is nothing exactly like it in the world (and as far as I know they are right). So we can presume that many people really only go there for Y. So of course they only sell a combined admission to X and Y. This much you can find out in advance from their publicity. What you only find out when you buy the ticket is that Y is a little distance away from X. In fact, when you pay your money, what you get is a ticket to X and *directions* to Y (which involve passing a "No Exit" sign, for instance). And, at least on the day I went, appearing at Y is sufficient -- nobody there asked to see my ticket. So why is this in sf-lovers? It just seems to me that this is practice of selling only information (and secretly) is the kind of thing that would appeal to SF lovers. Certainly my immediate reaction was that it would fit nicely in a Larry Niven story... Mark Brader Oh well, I suppose I'll throw in MY opinion of Heinlein. He's very good, but needs more editorial direction nowadays. To me, "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" is a favorite**, "I Will Fear No Evil" about the worst; "Friday" and "The Number of the Beast" both started very well (worth reading) and ended weakly. You don't have to agree with *all* his opinions to enjoy his work. **even though I had to be told what really happened to Mike at the end; the narrator never figures it out, so the reader has to, by, er, themself.