Forgive me

A good buddy of mine of mine got 4th row clubhouse box tickets to the Diamondbacks game today. Great seats, fun game. A couple of you even got a picture. Rarely do I get seats that good for anything so it was definitely a neat experience...they even serve you your concessions/food! Of course, they do charge you a 19% service charge on top of the already-inflated prices so I don't know if it's truly "service," but it's still neat.

Half way through the game, though, my buddy turns to me and says, "Not that I'm keeping score, but these tickets beat the crap out of any free tickets you've ever given me." He goes on to tell me that he and his wife joke about how bad the tickets were/are when he comes home from events I take him to, and further expounds on multiple instances where the tickets were too high or at a bad angle or too far from the glass or whatever.

Wow. Invite me to something cool only to rip on me. I'm sorry I wasted your time with tickets you wouldn't have bought or used yourself.

You know what...I don't have a six-figure income from a Fortune 100 company. I don't drive a luxury sports car or a gigantic black-and-chrome SUV. I don't have a big screen HDTV with surround sound and all the latest gadgets. And I don't have clients or partners that give me 4th row home plate tickets to games. The best I usually get is upper-bowl stuff. Either that's what the company gives me or that's what I can afford. I never had a lot growing up and I learned to live fairly simply. Digital cable and high-speed internet are about as luxurious as it gets for me, and I'm quite okay with that. Whatever I do have, though, I offer freely to my friends. Now the free stuff (emphasis on FREE) that I get tickets for is laughable? If what I have to share doesn't meet people's standards then they can...well, I'm sure you can finish that sentence creatively, with all such endings likely being appropriate.

Forgive me if what I can offer starts to no longer be good enough any more. I'll be enjoying it just the same. The World Series looks the same to me from the upper deck or behind home plate.