Ticket Mania
As the show got closer, I started to browse through the ticket brokers' inventories. I'd love to know how these people get their hands on the front row tickets! Or maybe I don't want to know. I shopped around a few sites, and while front row was completely out of my price range, I found a pair of fourth row seats that didn't look too bad. I really hated to go through a broker for a benefit show, but I'm hoping at least the original face value of the ticket went toward the intended cause. I twisted Edith's arm and we went in on a pair of tickets. The broker called me after I placed the order and said the fourth row tickets I had ordered were gone, but they were seats 1 and 2 anyway in section 7 (they never tell you the seat numbers until you buy - only the section and row), next to the outer wall, and I wouldn't have wanted them anyway, since he had something better to offer me. Yeah yeah, okay, what? Well, for a slightly cheaper price, he had fifth row, section 9, on the inner aisle. Hmm. Okay, sold! So now we have fifth row tickets!!
I thought about selling my original ticket, but anything past tenth row wasn't really selling, especially single seats. But then I talked to Edith, and it turned out, quite by coincidence, that the single seat she had originally bought for herself was right next to mine in row Q! So now we had a pair! I ran into Queenie in a chat room, and since she had seats back in section 3, we arranged an upgrade for her!
As any obsessed person would do, every now and then I would go onto Ticketmaster and look for a single ticket, just to see what might pop up. Strange things sometimes happen. I never saw anything closer than row Q. Then on the Thursday before the show, out of the blue, I was wondering how ticket sales were going. I wondered, if I were trying to buy two tickets right now, how far back would I have to sit? This is how it happened that I typed in two for quantity of tickets, instead of one, which is my usual when I'm ticket fishing. So I was expecting to see something way far back on the floor, or way up in the risers.
What does pop up as "best available" is this: Section 8. The front center section. Row C. Third row. Two seats. Aisle.
I blinked and looked again. It was really there on the screen in front of me. Third row, slightly stage left inner aisle.
I had five seconds of completely stunned followed by EEEEK!!! WHERE IS MY CREDIT CARD? I know, I know, I already had fifth row. But third row aisle when I still had space between me and my credit limit? I can't even explain how excited I was. Once those tickets were bought, I tried to think about who else I should tell that these seats had opened up, and before I could finish that thought, I got an email from JenRN, who had just bought seat 6 in the same row! I told her I'd see her there! I sent a message to a couple of lists in case anyone else could upgrade, and the tickets went pretty quickly. Queenie, who was already thrilled to have gotten 17th row tickets, had just been upgraded to fifth row - I decided to wait and surprise her with that news! The 17th row ones went to friends who were up in the risers.