March 6, 2009

Tardy Ticket Buyers Beware

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There are few things more frustrating than missing a concert because it’s sold out and you can’t get a ticket. One of those more frustrating things is being a member of the Concert Commission and telling all of your friends on a daily basis to buy tickets to a show before it sells out. Then, getting texts, voice messages, Facebook messages and emails begging you for tickets when there aren’t any left. It was the story of my life last week, and it totally took a toll on me. Although I was ecstatic that the Ludacris concert sold out, I can totally relate to my friends’ feeling of wanting to get into a show but not having the means to get a ticket. Also, having worked really hard to promote this concert and having helped set everything up for the show, I really wanted my friends to be able to attend.
Let it be known that I understand it’s hard to purchase tickets in advance to anything when you’re in college. Committing to a concert if you’re not sure about your upcoming sports team schedule, or a major exam can be tough. But honestly, splurging $17 to secure your spot in the venue wouldn’t have set you back too much if you couldn’t attend. In fact, as far as the Ludacris concert goes, you could have made you a few (illegal in NYS) bucks, as I saw some pretty high price requests for second hand ticket sales online.
Despite my sympathy, you –– who could not manage to take five minutes of time to go online and purchase a ticket during the entire month that tickets were on sale –– deserve the misery! Even if you did end up scalping a ticket and going to the concert, you deserved the frustration of having to message or call random people who put listings on Craigslist. Why do you deserve this? Well because I only invited you to the Facebook event, quarter-carded you on Ho Plaza, hung up posters all around campus, stuffed your mailbox, updated my Facebook status daily, shamelessly promoted to you in class or sent reminders in the sorority meeting minutes telling you to buy a ticket. After all of this, shame, shame on you for not buying a ticket. Better yet, shame, shame on all of the people who received all of this promotion, yet still contacted me asking for a ticket after the show was sold out!
I would like to take the rest of this column to acknowledge each and every one of you to ensure that it never, EVER, happens again. You shameful ticket-beggars can be grouped into three categories: (1) ex-Concert Commission members who didn’t buy tickets because you assumed a show would never sell out, (2) my actual friends who are lazy and (3) people who aren’t even close to my friends, but I have some inconsequential acquaintance with, so you believe I will go out of my way to get you the hook up.
To the ex-CCC members, I pitied you the most. In the last three years prior to Ludacaris, the Concert Commission has not sold out a show. I fully recognize why you weren’t in any hurry to buy a ticket. So to you, let this be a lesson … that you should have stayed in CCC and worked the show!
To my good friends, I say poo-poo. Stop being so lazy and get your lives together!
To group number three (which is composed of a single person), let this be a life lesson that you should have been nicer to people in high school. To refresh your memory, we went to high school together and now we attend the same university and we’re still not even Facebook friends –– a little strange in my opinion. Maybe that’s because you were never nice to me since the kindergarten when we first started schooling together. Ask yourself: would you have done any favor like this for me? Think about it …
As for the rest of you rare readers of Friday columns, I hope you have taken away a valuable moral from this story. Clearly it is to go buy your tickets for the Girl Talk concert that will be happening on Sunday, April 5 in Barton Hall! Seriously, I don’t want one person to miss the best dance party Barton has ever hosted!