The Following Story is Ripped From the Pages Of ALMOST True Confessions

The great news is I bought tickets for the Elton John and Billy Joel concert at the Energy Solutions Arena next month.  Great news does not always require bad news, but I have some.  The number of tickets I bought is three and Carl and I are two.  Further, the single ticket is in a much better spot, costs almost as much as the other two combined,  and is alooooone.

This isn't the first time fiasco follows excitement at a concert at ESA.

We went to the Bob Dylan/Paul Simon concert years ago which provoked my flurry at getting tickets this time, and haste, as you know, makes Jill a dull girl.  But more on that later.

At the previous concert, BD/PS, to be specific, we were really in nosebleed.  Up in the rafters, were we, with the crazies, the hopped up and the drunks.  The concert was, of course, fabulous.  But its fabulosity didn't stop us from observing the wild scene around us.  As I recall, things were rowdy enough, but then there was some rough stuff between a guy who took umbrage at another guy who spilled beer on his date.  Then the police arrived and some other stuff happened, and we had to crane and bob and weave to see around the brouhaha and really crank our hearing aids to hear the concert.  It was totally crazy.  There were the performers, not missing a beat and the concert-goers on the floor swaying, dancing and singing along.  And we, upstairs, were in chaos.  It was glorious.

But back to the ticket buying.  SmithsTix online buying is scary.  They announce that they are going to TIME YOU OUT if you don't get on with your business, and your reservation will be given to another.  Certainly lots scarier than the police and a bunch of drunken bums.  It renders you incapable of reading the line which reads "Quantity of tickets purchased" and causes your hand to punch "This approves this charge to my credit card" without a second thought.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.