I learned many lessons one night a few months ago.
I was split between attending an office party for my day job, and seeing the stoner doom metal band Elder play. I wasn’t dead-set on either, since I didn’t know how many people I’d know at the office party, but I had only gotten into Elder’s music a few weeks before. Since the office party began first, I decided to start there. If it held my attention, great, but if not I’d leave early, go to the concert, and buy a ticket at the door. I had never been to this venue before, but it looked like a small dive bar when I looked it up. Elder was no Metallica, I was sure there would still be tickets available the night of the show.
The office party was alright. I talked to a few people I knew, had a few drinks from the open bar, but after about an hour I decided it was time to headbang. But before I could do that, I needed a bite to eat. I had never been to this venue before, but I saw they had a food truck parked outside on Google Maps, so I drove to the venue and got in line for the food truck.
Upon closer inspection of the menu, I found to my horror that this food truck was all vegan. Normally I would have found somewhere else to eat, but I had already struggled enough to find parking near this place and I didn’t want to miss the band when they came on. I reluctantly ordered a veggie burger and chowed down.
By the time I got to the ticket counter, it turned out the show had sold out.
You could imagine my vexation. I had left my office party and eaten a fraud vegan “burger” all for a concert that I couldn’t even see.
Ready to cut my losses for the night, I went home, only to discover another inconvenience: I had left my house key inside and locked myself out. Fortunately, it was only 9:30 PM at that point, so my landlord was still up to let me in. Had I stayed for either the party or the concert, I probably would have had to sleep in my car that night.
I learned several lessons that night:
- Eat dinner before you leave so don’t end up eating a veggie burger.
- Remember to bring your key when you leave the house.
- If there’s even an inkling of a chance you might go to a concert, buy the ticket in advance, especially if it’s on a Saturday night. That’s why I just bought a ticket to see Khemmis on a Saturday in May, even though it’s the same day as my brother’s graduation. Who knows? He could fail a final or something.