Can you believe it? We are less than a month away until Christmas. Time does fly fast, doesn't it?
Well... time doesn't fly as long as you stand in line for four hours with only twenty people in front of you to buy Giants tickets...
The Horror of Buying Giants Tickets on Black Friday
Did any of you get any Black Friday bargains? For me, I'd say yes, but here's what happened when I was in line buying Giants tickets on the first day of early sales...
- On Black Friday, Giants tickets went on sale at 10AM, and in order to buy tickets without paying the outrageous surcharge, I went to AT&T Park's Giants Dugout store to buy my tickets.
- I stood in line at 9:30AM with 20 people ahead of me and was expecting to get in the door at 10AM, stand in line for no more than 20 or 30 minutes, and get out as quickly as possible. But the horror came when the line was hardly moving...
- Why? They only had one computer working to sell tickets. Their other computer wasn't operational. With only one computer, it took the average person 10 to 15 minutes to buy the tickets they wanted, and a good majority of the fans was unprepared, thinking on the fly on what games they wanted to see.
- To make matters worse, the Dugout store realized after two hours, they needed extra workers to run the other ticket computers at the glass window sales booths on King Street. One they got those working, they decided to mishandle the next in line customers by allowing the people in the back of the line to get to the glass window booths first, therefore someone like me, #20 in line, got royally screwed over in this fiasco.
- In the end, I stood in line for FOUR HOURS just to buy twelve Giants tickets.
Okay, so the Giants Grinch got me again, Giants management making me waste many hours of my life because they were too stupid to use common sense by being prepared for the masses waiting to get game tickets.
On a better note, let's all remember something important:
The holidays are not the same because John Toomey, a.k.a. Santa Claus whom was fired from Macy's Union Square and hired by Lefty O'Doul's, died in late July.
During his stint last holiday season at Lefty's, the message put out showed that us citizens should be generous and donate to needy people in the Bay Area. I decided last year to buy some toys and bring it to Lefty's to donate it to the SF Firefighters toy program, and I was stunned to see the barrel overstuffed full of toys from great people of our city.
This year, I will make sure to donate again, because I know that while I'm thankful to have a job and income, the less fortunate may not be able to buy a toy for their child.
I want to propose a challenge to you readers, make a donation, whether it be a toy, dropping off food at the local food bank, or even spend time at a program like Glide to serve food. Make sure to share the holiday spirit with others, and I'm sure someone out there will appreciate what you have donated.
4 comments:
How much did you save in surcharges? You spent the better part of the daylight hours on a holiday in line to buy tickets. At some point, don't you say screw this? Come back another day or go online and pay the surcharge.
As you get older, doesn't your time off increase in value? This sounds like something an 18 year old kid would do - not much money, not much appreciation of time off and low willingness to pay for convenience.
Good question, the surcharge is between 10 and 17 percent. I at least saved $40 on the surcharges alone. Other charges can include print at home fees (online).
In hindsight was it worth the savings? I'd gladly exchange $40 for four hours of my time, especially on a holiday off from work.
I don't understand people who devalue their own time like this. Someone tight on money is willing to stand in line for 4 hours for a Thanksgiving meal or some such thing. You have enough money to buy 12 Giants tickets and donate to charity but when it comes to freeing up your own personal time, you close your wallet tight. Clearly you didn't enjoy waiting in line so your opportunity cost was even larger.
No one likes to get nickeled and dimed or pay surcharges but at some point, you have to ask if the non-monetary costs of avoiding the surcharges are worth it.
How was I supposed to realize that being 20th in line would result in a nearly four hour wait? I had nothing else to do that day, nor was I really interested in fighting with the crowds and protesters in downtown.
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