Thunderzone is a teen’s dream: greasy pizza, bowling, music, and arcade games. There’s nothing like bonding over who can get the highest score in a game. The bright lights and fun sounds of the games are super alluring, and they place them right when you get in so you can burn time and money while waiting for a lane to open. Last time some friends and I went, we blew right through $60 on the games. We had the time of our lives, but afterwards we realized exactly how much we spent; that part wasn’t as fun.

Does laughter have a price? When you plan a hangout with your family or friend group, the first question everyone asks is, where are we going? That’s usually followed by, who’s going? Do we limit ourselves and our friendships when we pick places not everyone can go to? 

To get to bowl at Thunderzone, you have to pay $60 for an hour of bowling. Not that bad, right?

The booths in the bowling lanes have their own ‘private’ areas, enforcing a kind of social barrier. If other people go there, they’re intruding on people’s personal space. And after paying to have that space to themselves, people don’t take kindly to that. But the private space allows people to hang out with their friends with no fear of having to be judged. Paired with the background music, it makes the perfect environment to talk with your friends. It lets you have a conversation without having to worry about breaking a silence and disturbing others. It’s more intimate to have a space just for your friends, and it helps you get closer to them.

The booths also come with tables to place the incredibly greasy food Thunderzone wants you to order. The smell from the kitchen, which just happens to be placed right by the area where people are bowling, is more than enough to work up an appetite. The food can be expensive, but when it comes out and everyone gets to eat, it’s worth it. 

It’s an amazing place is my point. But everything I just listed costs money: the bowling, the games, the food. What’s a poor, broke teen to do?

 The answer is… nothing. Many end up missing out on a fun experience due to the endless amount of spending required. Thunderzone is great for teens with extra cash to burn, but it’s horrible for meeting different kinds of people since only people who can afford it can go. Sometimes even hanging out with your friends isn’t possible because all they really want is to squeeze as much money as they can from you. Money being the only factor that ties people together, can be rough on a friendship. 

 Who has that kind of cash all the time?! 

But there is a place that has no walls, no music, a bright sun, and grass that combats that problem. The opposite of what most adolescents think of when they think of exciting, but once out there, they have a blast. Lake Carroll Park is a great place to hang out with family and friends, without having to worry about your wallet being dry. It lets you hang out with those you normally can’t see. The lack of direction makes you come up with your own ideas and activities to do while you’re there. It’s a great way to bond with friends and collaborate on things to do. 

The large barren areas make great places to play catch, have a picnic, read in silence, and anything else you want. The bright sun does make it so people get slightly tanned, but the trees planted all around provide shade for those who don’t like getting burned. There are also courts to play tennis, pickleball, and even a track for those who are just looking to run.

It also makes it easier to meet different kinds of people since there’s no central reason anyone is there for, and no fees to be there. The fact that it’s a public area also makes it easier to approach people without fear of intruding on their space.

Though there are a few downsides that make it harder to bond with family and friends. The lack of privacy can make the experience less intimate and more awkward for people wanting to hang out and not be bothered. (Being watched while you struggle to finish your last lap around the track can be pretty embarrassing.) The need for imagination can also be strenuous for people just looking to have a fun time; having to decide what to do can be frustrating. 

It forces people to think outside of the box, unlike how most people normally don’t have to.

While both places are somewhere to go to bond with friends and family, Thunderzone relies on decided activities to encourage mindless spending in order to bond with your companions, and shapes a person into thinking spending money is the only way to have fun. Meanwhile, Lake Carroll Park uses a barren space that forces you to use your imagination to create an experience with your companions, and shapes a person to use their head and be individualistic.