How do YOU define Added Value?

I went to the movie theater with my wife and best friend a couple of weekends ago. The movie was very good and the theater was very nice but... When I was a child, 8-12 years old, my friends and I could see a movie, get popcorn and coke all for 50 cents! Granted that was a few decades back but what is the added value that we are paying so much for now days? To get a plate of nachos at this theater it will cost you $9.00! Sodas and popcorn start at $5, EACH! I remember as a child watching the westerns at the movie theater. We all cheered when the good guy came in to take out the bad guy. We all booed when the bad guy took off with the lady in distress. It was great fun and excitement. We didn't watch the movie as a collection of individuals in the same place at the same time. We watched the movie as a group. A group of people united with the same goal in mind. See the good guy win, the bad guy lose, the horse get a kiss from the good guy and to have a great time.

The same thoughts apply to a kite I made with my grandson this last week. To be honest, I didn't make any home made from scratch kites when I was growing up. However, the store bought kites were made of paper, dow rods and string which is exactly the same way we made our kite. We didn't have any paper designed with a super hero so we used the newspaper. Come to think of it, given the news of late that was probably the best use for it. We glued the paper around the string and tied an old neck tie onto the bottom for the tail. It had its virgin flight just yesterday. It didn't fly as high as some of the commercial made kites would but that really didn't matter. What was important was that it flew and it was something we made ourselves with our own hands.

I'm Dad and I'm just saying, added values isn't all about what you get out of something. Sometimes it's what you put into something.