To rebel with the Zoom Lens

One of the many still cameras we have at the Student Multimedia Design Center, is the Canon Rebel t2i DSLR camera. As a well renowned camera in its own right, the optional part is a zoom lens kit. The regular lens of the camera can zoom in up to 55mm. The zoom lens in comparison begins its focus at 75mm.
When thinking about which lens to use, one has to consider how close they want to be to the object they are shooting. When focusing on people, would you like to see every bead of sweat on your favorite performers face at the concert tomorrow night, or rather just see that they look a little shiny because they crammed 500 people into a room meant for 20? Would you like to see your girlfriends perfectly manicured nails so you can compliment her on how nice they look, or just see some pretty colors but not make out the Italian flag she spent all night painting onto her finger tips that are the pride of her artistic ability.
These are simply two of the many questions you should ask yourself when considering which lens to use with the Rebel t2i. With the zoom lens, you have to be further away to get the same picture as the normal lens, because the zoom is automatically closer. You wouldn't want to leave Aunt Mary or Uncle Brian out of the family picture because you attached the zoom lens without wanted to zoom. You still probably want to get the picture of that one antisocial zebra at the zoo that you can feel mocking you from across the exhibit though.

To zoom or not to zoom? That is the question.