Saturday, November 26, 2005

I rest my case, your honor

With Momma having to spend the day at work, Colin and I headed down to the Garden to watch the Bruins play the Philadelphia Flyers yesterday. While watching our favorite game with some of our favorite people is an easy recipe for a great day, the main reason why we left Boston reared its ugly head.

Thanks to one wicked awesome Bruins fan, we had tickets in the second row in the Bruins zone. Trust me, too, when I say that the game takes on an entirely different perspective when you’re that close – facial expressions are crystal clear, crushing bodychecks produce shockwaves and it’s easy to feel that you’re part of the game.

The problem, though, is that some people feel compelled to steal your seats. After spending the first period down low, we made our way over to where our friends were sitting, with intentions of watching the second stanza there. Midway through the period, the original ticket holders arrived (mind you, these folks were half a game late), so Colin and I packed up, bid good-bye to our friends and headed to the concourse.

On our way down, one fan couldn’t resist making a comment that we should go sit in our "real seats." I politely (in the loosest definition of the term) informed this gentleman that we were indeed headed that way and that we would enjoy a much better view than he would.

The exchange, though somewhat civil, had an effect on Colin.

"Did we get in trouble, Daddy?" he asked.
"No, not much," I replied.
"That man yelled at us," he said.
"Well, Daddy yelled back at him," I said.
"Did we steal those seats?" he asked.
"Well, in a way, we did. That isn’t right, is it?" I said.
"No, Daddy," he said, "it’s not."

After the period ended, we met up with out friends again. They told us that two seats remained empty and we should join them. They also told us that the gentleman who engaged us also had to leave the section, apparently he, too, didn’t have the right to sit there.

At first, we thought about joining our friends. But as we were walking up the tunnel, Colin asked one very smart question: "Daddy, won’t we be stealing those seats again?" He was right. If we went back there, we would be stealing those seats. In a heartbeat, we turned around and headed back to our seats.

It wasn’t much of a surprise, then, when we found two people – young girls – sitting in our seats. I politely asked them if we could have our seats back. Their father, sitting in the front row, told me, without looking at me, that we had left those seats. I agreed, but reminded him that we were back and wanted to sit there.

"Besides," I said, "what kind of lesson are you trying to teach your children? That it’s OK to cheat and steal?"

He turned to confront me and then realized that not only did I have height, size and conviction over him, but I also was clutching the tickets. He also saw Colin. Sheepishly, he told his daughters that they had to go. But rather than heading back to his original seats, most likely in the Garden’s upper tier, he simply moved one section over.

Apparently, I was the only parent to learn a lesson that day.

One of the major reasons we left the Boston area (besides the area’s overinflated cost of living and its misplaced sense of importance) is that we wanted to live in an area that valued substance over style. And while I confess to painting my distaste for this Boston attitude with a very wide brush, these exchanges only confirmed our decision.

Thankfully, too, we’ve come to realize that good people, like Marilyn, Jaci and Tracy, are the exceptions, rather than the norm, to our perceptions. Should my job hunt lead us to relocate, and it likely will, it’s these kind folks who will provide us with the most pleasant memories of our time in New England.

4 Comments:

Blogger slegr_71 said...

I'm glad I rank as one of the 'good people' - I'd rank you there as well. Just no more Jiri trade suggestions, please? ;)

I can't believe you got such attitude. The sense of 'entitlement' some people around here have is disgusting. I truly hope that you meet more of the good folk here [yeah, there are a few more of us ;) ] to balance out the bad encounters. And I hope I get to see you at a few more games this season.

Tracy

11:40 PM  
Blogger Puckhound said...

Tracy:

No need to worry. A future posting, sometime this week, will expand upon possible blockbusters and Storm Trooper (I think he looks like one at practice) will not be a part of any package.

I know there are some good people in Boston. I've met all seven of them. ;)

10:03 AM  
Blogger slegr_71 said...

If you think he looks like a storm trooper at practice, you should see the pic of him skating off the ice after the 'shirts of their backs' game last season they played (I think Jaci had it in her old gallery.) I even commented that he looked like a Storm Trooper from the original Star Wars movie. ;)

T.

12:33 PM  
Blogger Drew said...

People like that are the reason that I'm really in no hurry to move back to Boston once I leave.

/drew

10:46 PM  

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