Triple Espresso

See... told ya Id be back.

Last night Blanca and I went to go see Triple Espresso - a Christmas gift from Justin and Cinthya - it was her first time seeing it, and my second time. It was also the second time the box office came "this close" to screwing me over. Not a good record for them.
The first time I went - it was roughly 7 or 8 years ago, and if I wasnt so lazy Id get up right now and find out the exact date - I went to the box office and asked for tickets for a specific date, well pick a random date and say Saturday the 10th. So I say, "Can I have two tickets for Saturday the 10th" and the guy goes "No problem, let me see what we have." A minute or two later he looks away from the computer and says "We have great seats available, just gimme a second to print them up for you." A minute or two later I hand over my $100 and he hands me 2 tickets..... for Saturday the 17th.
I politely point out his error and he looks me in the eye and says "Im sorry, theres nothing I can do, theres no refunds or exchanges." He actually said that to me? Yep. So again I point out that I asked for the 10th and was given the 17th. "Im sorry, theres no refunds or exchanges." The third time I pointed out his error I wasnt so polite and basically told him that he screwed up and I wasnt leaving until I had the correct tickets in my hand. He stares at me with a look that was like "He actually said that to me?" Yep.
He grunts something, walks over to the phone, calls someone - who I can only assume is either the man behind the curtain or some Ticketmaster Godfather because of the way they always treat him with awe, respect, and fear any time he needs to be called.
The phone goes back down, the guy walks back over to me, and says "He says I can make an exception for you." Or goody, "for me." He goes back to the computer, types some stuff in, shakes his head, and informs me of the bad news. "Im sorry, but on the date you asked for were having a party and we practically have no tickets left. Umm... I can turn some water into wine and squeeze you in somewhere." Ok, he didnt say the wine thing, but he was acting like he was gonna work some kind of miracle. "For me." So he finally says "The only tickets I have are in the very back row, do you want them?" The theater is very very small, only has nine rows, so the very back row is still really close to the stage. I didnt know that at the time, and he was making it sound like I was going to be in the next city, but I agreed anyway.
The 10th comes around and Briana and I get to the theater and find out seats, center of row 9. By the time the show starts, theres nobody in rows 6, 7, or 8. Not a single person. And rows 4 and 5 are about half full. And rows 1, 2, and 3 are mostly full. So much for the guy working a miracle and squeezing us in as a favor "for me" by the approval of the Godfather.

Jump ahead to last week. Ha. That sounds funny... like "Back To The Future." Anywho...

Last week Blanca and I decided that Saturday the 31st would be a good day to use the gift certificates we got for Christmas, so I called the box office and talked to a very nice guy who assured me, by the end of the phone call, wed have awesome seats. Cool.
Yesterday we go eat dinner, then head to the theater, and go to the box office to pick up the tickets. One little problem. We dont have any.
The guy asks me my name, I tell him, he says "Are you sure?" Uhh... yeah, pretty sure thats it. "Ok, Ill trust you, but the thing is, we have no tickets for you." I said nothing, just stared at him. He does more checking, first in a little box, then a big folder, then a computer. Yep, nothing. He picks up another folder, scans through it until he finds the number to our gift certificates, and it shows that Justin had bought them, but that I hadnt cashed them in yet. Not good.
So he asks me to spell my name, and I do, and he goes "That sounds very familiar, did you call these in?" Yes. "Did you talk to a guy?" Yes. "That was me. I wonder why I didnt enter your information." Me too. "Good news is that I can get you MUCH better seats that I would have been able to get you last week." Another miracle. I kinda wanted to say, "Dude, theres only nine rows, how much better could you actually get me?" But I smiled, said thanks, cuz afterall, he was doing it... "for me." And he didnt even have to call the Godfather to make it happen.
We ended up with center of the 5th row and had a very fun time. But maybe its a good thing that this is their last season cuz I dont know if I wanna give them the opportunity to go three for three with me.

Til next time...

-- DBW --