Columnist Susan Snyder: The kid provides the answer

Friday, March 8, 2002 | 9:49 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Fridays Sundays and Tuesdays. Reach her at snyder@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4082.

A kid on a trampoline provided an answer to a nagging question.

The question was whether regular people want more entertainment than information from mainstream news outlets. Has our societal intellect become as thin as Calista Flockhart?

The issue came up Wednesday during an informal reception at KNPR 89.5-FM radio's studio with Bob Edwards, host of National Public Radio's "Morning Edition." The get-together was for local media types to meet Edwards. I didn't expect to write anything because who wants to read about media people?

Then I realized we were talking about you. So I wondered: Is a preference for entertainment the reason many TV morning newscasts tell the same stories -- sometimes using the same wording read at 11 p.m. -- over and over without new information?

Is that why many commercial radio stations, if they do any news at all, read only headlines once an hour? Is that why long-term and highly expensive investigative reports have fallen away from many newspapers' pages?

Do we really think David Letterman is an even exchange for Ted Koppel? While waiting at a traffic light on the way back to the office, I spotted a kid jumping on a trampoline with two friends while straddling a bicycle.

I wondered where his parents were -- the ones who "protect" him by paying to live behind a gated subdivision wall. Ones who probably would sue the trampoline company for damages when the dork broke his neck.

But I had the answer to the first question.

Send the meteor.

The Sahara is giving out "Passport to Fun" coupon books in honor of its 50th anniversary.

Any Strip hotel that manages to dodge a wrecking ball for 50 years should be honored with a medal. But a whopping $1 off a $7.99 buffet doesn't exactly set a gold standard for me.

Keep in mind that a gallon of mid-grade gasoline to get there costs about $1.36. Taxi fare would cover the first year at Stanford, and walking there (as if any of us do that) can get you killed if you use a crosswalk -- or if you don't. Same dif.

Kinda puts the damper on that 20 percent off of a coffee drink. But there is a coupon for a free Sahara painter's cap.

Party on.

Wednesday definitely was a good day for the "duh" factor. It followed me to the grocery store, where I totally flunked Tourism 101.

As I was getting into my car, a couple getting into a mini-van next to me asked, "Where do we go in our rental van? We always spend all our time on the Strip. This time we want to drive around. Where do we see the 'real' Vegas?"

They had just been there, done that at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Besides, it was dark.

The "real" Vegas? I was stumped.

"You're looking at it," I finally said. "We're really just subdivisions and Target, like back in Wisconsin."

They were disappointed.

I was, too.

Feel free to pass along any suggestions (in family language) for what I can say the next time someone asks such a question while I'm holding a bag of fresh spinach and toilet paper. I am trainable.