a win-win situation
So, I saw that today was a 12:05pm Indians game against the White Sox, and I said to myself, "Self (because that's what I call myself), you've been pretty good lately. In fact, you've been DAMN good. Go spend your lunch hour over at the ball game today. It's a beautiful day, and you deserve it." I consider this one of the perks of working downtown. Anyhow, away I went.
I got to the ticket booth at about 11:55am, and was just about to step up to the window when to my right, a somewhat older gentleman asked if I was only looking for a single ticket. When I responded affirmatively, he extended his hand and held out a ticket he was willing to sell. I looked at the ticket, saw the $50 price, and quietly said, "no, thanks", figuring I was just going to buy an outfield upper deck seat and then jockey for best position in the seats available. This was when he sweetened the offer by saying he'd let me have it for TEN BUCKS. Now he had my attention, so I examined the ticket as I removed my wallet from my pocket. Right date, right team, printed on both sides, good barcode -- what the hell, let's give it a shot. I extracted a $10 bill from my wallet, offered it to the gentleman, and was on my way.
As I got to the gate, the little voice inside me said, "dude, if this thing's fake or in any way no good, you got what you deserve". I told the little voice to shut the hell up :-), and made my way to the ticket checker. The ticket scanned good, so in I went. After a quick stop by the men's room, I made my way to the seat (Section 136, Row P, Seat 6 - for those of you playing at home, this is down the right-field line, just outside of first base and 16 rows up from the field, a DAMN fine perspective on the game). Who should I see sitting next to me but the ticket seller? I thanked him again for his generosity, and settled in to watch the game.
I'd not had a more enjoyable lunchtime experience in quite some time (lunch with sbuchler excepted :-)). We made small talk; the gentleman and his companions, after finding out I worked for RTA, asked some questions about the service, I got the opportunity to lay out some positive PR, and we even talked baseball for a while. It was a bright, sunny day, Jeremy Sowers pitched a great first four innings (though he gave up a solo HR as I left in the top of the fifth), and I was able to relax before heading back to work.
As I got up and bade my companions farewell, I extended my hand to my benefactor, shook his, and proffered another $10, saying, "lunch is on me". I think this surprised him a little bit, and that was perhaps my only disappointment of the whole experience. Have we gotten so jaded toward human behavior that simple courtesies and gratitudes are now endangered species? I hope not.
Let's all try to be just that little bit better to each other...
I got to the ticket booth at about 11:55am, and was just about to step up to the window when to my right, a somewhat older gentleman asked if I was only looking for a single ticket. When I responded affirmatively, he extended his hand and held out a ticket he was willing to sell. I looked at the ticket, saw the $50 price, and quietly said, "no, thanks", figuring I was just going to buy an outfield upper deck seat and then jockey for best position in the seats available. This was when he sweetened the offer by saying he'd let me have it for TEN BUCKS. Now he had my attention, so I examined the ticket as I removed my wallet from my pocket. Right date, right team, printed on both sides, good barcode -- what the hell, let's give it a shot. I extracted a $10 bill from my wallet, offered it to the gentleman, and was on my way.
As I got to the gate, the little voice inside me said, "dude, if this thing's fake or in any way no good, you got what you deserve". I told the little voice to shut the hell up :-), and made my way to the ticket checker. The ticket scanned good, so in I went. After a quick stop by the men's room, I made my way to the seat (Section 136, Row P, Seat 6 - for those of you playing at home, this is down the right-field line, just outside of first base and 16 rows up from the field, a DAMN fine perspective on the game). Who should I see sitting next to me but the ticket seller? I thanked him again for his generosity, and settled in to watch the game.
I'd not had a more enjoyable lunchtime experience in quite some time (lunch with sbuchler excepted :-)). We made small talk; the gentleman and his companions, after finding out I worked for RTA, asked some questions about the service, I got the opportunity to lay out some positive PR, and we even talked baseball for a while. It was a bright, sunny day, Jeremy Sowers pitched a great first four innings (though he gave up a solo HR as I left in the top of the fifth), and I was able to relax before heading back to work.
As I got up and bade my companions farewell, I extended my hand to my benefactor, shook his, and proffered another $10, saying, "lunch is on me". I think this surprised him a little bit, and that was perhaps my only disappointment of the whole experience. Have we gotten so jaded toward human behavior that simple courtesies and gratitudes are now endangered species? I hope not.
Let's all try to be just that little bit better to each other...