All's Well That Ends Well?
Although my background is primarily scientific, one of my favorite college courses was in Shakespeare (the other was population genetics). The professor actually had a very scientific approach to literature, which I appreciated. On the first day, he talked about such-and-such being a theme in whatever play (I think it might have been false versus true nature and The Merchant of Venice, but it's been a long time). Of course, more than half the class being pre-med and not believing in themes (*lol*), we all scoffed and he proceeded to point out example after example of the same thing in the play - so, we couldn't ignore it - it couldn't have been coincidence! This professor was really interesting and I could have listened to him lecture all day long instead of only the 1-hour each class was scheduled. :)
So, a few years ago, I made my first trip to the UK and one of my ambitions has been to see a production of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). They've come to Ann Arbor a few times, but I never got my act together enough to actually get tickets for any of the performances. I did manage to tour Shakespeare's house in Stratford-upon-Avon during my 2005 trip to England. I'll be going to England again in July 2008 and thought it would be fun to see the RSC. Also, as many of you know, I've become an obsessed Doctor Who fan over the past several months. When I found out that the RSC would be doing Hamlet this summer and that it would star, not only Patrick Stewart who was in Ann Arbor, but David Tennant, I had to get tickets. The main problem with this plan was that I only formulated it last month and tickets for Hamlet have been sold out since last fall. I did what any other crazed fan might do - I went to eBay. :-D
On eBay, I managed to win an auction for tickets to a show while I'll be there in England - for several times the face value of the tickets. However, I checked with eBay and, according to them, reselling tickets in the UK doesn't break the law unless the seller doesn't provide the face value of the tickets to the buyer - not a problem here. So, everything was going really well and I expected to get the tickets anytime last week - except, they never came. After contacting the seller, I discovered that the tickets had been sent to an old address in Iowa City, where I have not lived since 1999. (I only just updated my address on eBay with this current auction, but apparently it didn't take the change right away).
Realizing this error, I contacted the post office. The supervisor there was less than helpful. Could he tell me whether the letter was there? No, he couldn't be bothered to check, but it wouldn't have been delivered, if no one by that name lived there now; it would have been sent back immediately. Could he find out whether that was true? He grudgingly took my name and old address and said he'd check with the letter carrier - I could call back the next morning. So, I called the next morning. Did he check with the letter carrier? Of course not! He'd forgotten all about it. But, the letter carrier was still there. No, he didn't remember having seen a registered, insured letter from the UK for someone who didn't live at an address on his delivery route. Was I sure it hadn't been sent by FedEx? Fortunately, at that time, I was just checking my e-mails and got a message from the seller giving me a www.usps.gov tracking number. According to that tracking number, it had been sent through the US Postal Service and was at the Iowa City Post Office awaiting pick-up after a notice had been delivered to the address where I no longer lived. Of course, then they were able to find it and confirm it was there. *eye roll* The letter carrier put me back on with the supervisor who told me that, no, I couldn't have it forwarded to my current address - such a change would have to originate with the sender, but that would be very complicated for international mail. But, yes, I could come pick it up at the Iowa City post office; however, it would have to be sent back on Tuesday and there was no way I could wait until Saturday to pick it up because the sender can't wait forever for the addressee to get around to picking it up. *eye roll*
I'm currently in Chicago for the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting. I have no car here, but it's only a 3-1/2 hour drive to Iowa City (as opposed to from Ann Arbor, which would be about 8 hours). So, last night, I rented a car and this morning I left for Iowa City at 5:45 am. I was back in Chicago to drop off the rental car by 2:30 pm. I was able to pick up the tickets. I'd feared that they would give me a hard time because my driver's license has my address in Ann Arbor, not Iowa City. But, it worked out. The clerk at the counter seemed amused at my story and when he came back with the letter he said, "You know, you could have just asked us to forward this." *headdesk*
I thought everything was resolved and all was well, but now I have a new concern. On reading the small print on the back of the ticket, which I'm compulsive enough to do, it says: "Reselling this ticket for profit or commercial gain makes it void." So, does the RSC really police this stuff? I came across an article in the San Francisco Chronicle which said that tickets for King Lear with Sir Ian McKellan were going for over $1000 and no one complained, but that show was at UCLA; although it was still the RSC. Obviously, I paid more than face value for the tickets. (Actually, there seems to be a robust market for them on www.ebay.co.uk.)
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