December 1, 2006
Do you ever do something so completely bone-headed that it makes you question whether you are truly capable of being a functional adult in society?
Every year my family goes en masse to the Columbus Symphony Orchestra's "Holiday at the Pops" concert. This is the third year that I've taken Zeke, and we're both looking forward to it. (Stazi is still a bit small, so she will have to wait until next year for her debut.) My uncle buys the tickets all together to get a group discount, and distributes them at the family Thanksgiving party. I stuck mine in the pocket of my maternity dress, and mentally reminded myself at least four times that night to get them out of the dress as soon as I took it off and before laundering it.
You can see where this is going, right?
I did some laundry the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and that evening while my sister and brother-in-law were over at our place visiting, I suddenly sat bolt upright, mumbled something about, "I think I washed..." and darted out of the room. The dress was, indeed, in the dryer, but strangely enough, the tickets were not. A beacon of hope: could I perhaps have taken the tickets out of the pocket before laundering the dress? I searched our dresser, our nightstand, under the mattress (because you just never know), the van -- actually, Keith searched the van, because he is helpful and loves me -- and everywhere else I could think of. As a last resort, I went back to the load of laundry sitting in the dryer and shook out every single last piece of clothing. As I was turning one of Zeke's shirts right-side-out, a tiny wad of paper flew across the room. On carefully unfolding it, it was revealed to be the missing tickets. Or what was left of them anyway.
Panic ensued, was settled by the reassurances of Keith and my sister and brother-in-law that "this is exactly how TicketMaster can get away with charging its extortionate fees and you are going to be fine" and then re-ensued because that's just how I am. I called my uncle the next morning and let him know what was going on. He called back and said to try phoning the symphony box office.
So I did, and the friendly guy on the phone, in full defiance of the printed warning on the symphony website saying "DO NOT LOSE OR DAMAGE TICKETS AS THEY WILL NOT BE REPLACED" said he'd send us out a fresh pair, no problem. Or rather, would send my uncle out a fresh pair, since his name was the one on the receipt. Phew. Problem solved.
Except that as of last night, no tickets had showed up at my uncle's house. Panic ensued yet again. Should I call my uncle? Just show up and hope all went well at the box office? WHAT TO DO?
My mom helpfully pointed out that maybe I should try calling the symphony box office again. I cannot think of a good reason for why I did not think of this myself, except that I am existing in a haze of hormones right now that does not really permit rational thought most of the time. So I called the box office, got the same guy on the phone, and he told us he'd send the tickets down to Will Call, no problem.
So, have I mentioned that I'm taking Zeke to Holiday at the Pops tonight? We're really looking forward to it! Faint.
Posted at December 1, 2006 1:45 PM
Posted by: Cin at December 1, 2006 3:36 PM
Oy Vay! Sadly, I understand all too well how things like this happen. Have fun tonight!