It was a typical Wednesday night. I had an appointment with my personal trainer. I was excited because the following night I was going to see Dolly Parton with a dear friend, who was arriving the next afternoon. I was early to my appointment so I was sitting in the parking lot just looking at Facebook and wasting a little time. This is the story of how a personal training appointment became a Dolly Parton Concert, in just 5 easy steps.
Step 1
The Facebook Private Message: As I sat in the parking lot waiting for it to be 7:00 p.m. for my appointment, my Facebook Messenger went off, I had a message. It was from a friend of mine I knew was going to the concert tomorrow night. She was asking if I thought she would have enough time because she and her mom were just now being seated for dinner, it was about 6:50 p.m. I'm thinking, enough time for what? Then it strikes me, one of the two of us has the date wrong for this concert. Was it me? I quickly googled Dolly's schedule to make sure. And it was me, I was a day off and in this case, $67 dollars short.
Step 2
Freak the *&^% Out. I immediately texted my friend who was scheduled to come in the next day for the concert and told her how badly I had screwed up. I was also having a pretty major temper tantrum and at this point told her I would not be going to the concert, it was too late...if we couldn't go together, then I didn't want to go. She convinced me to get it together, find someone, and go see Dolly. It was 7:00 p.m. now and the concert started at 7:30. I had to bust a move.
Step 3
I ran through my friends who lived close enough to even make it to the concert, who might like Dolly Parton, and who would drop everything and come meet me. The list was short and I made my call. My buddy answered and said she could be there in 25 minutes. I was shocked she could understand my babbled squealing. I must have sounded like I was on speed. I was talking a mile a minute, as I sat in my car, in the L.A. Fitness parking lot, in my work out clothes. Next, I needed to retrieve the tickets.
Step 4
I peeled out of the parking lot like Bo and Luke Duke from the Dukes of Hazzard and drove like a bat out of hell down the back road back to my home. I needed the tickets that had been posted on my fridge for months. All these months that I could have double checked the date on them. Instead, I had it set in my mind that the concert was on Thursday night, not Wednesday. I flew through the cornfields and pumpkin patches, the sun was just going down and it was in my face. I accidentally went through a red light. I'm sure I'll be getting a red light camera ticket for that one. I made it home, ran up the stairs, took my dog out to potty, ran her back, changed my shorts, grabbed the tickets and was back in the car headed for the concert.
Step 5
My Waze app took me around the concert arena because of the traffic and I was grateful. I didn't have the patience at this point to fight traffic. I arrived at the venue at 7:25 p.m. and now the hunt for parking began. The actual lot for the concert hall was full of course, and there were droves of people walking through the streets to get in. They weren't paying attention to the crosswalks, the signs, or the lights. It reminded me of Las Vegas. I was in the wrong lane for where I wanted to go, I had to drive several blocks out of my way and then a beacon of hope, a bank stood in the distance. I pulled in and there was one spot left. I jammed my car into the spot and started to speed walk to the concert. It was 7:30 p.m. I assumed Dolly had an opening act. She didn't. I was waiting for my friend in front, pacing like a crazy person. People kept asking me, "You need one?" I guess I looked desperate. I was desperate. We made it inside about 7:40 p.m. as Dolly was singing, "Jolene," and I stood in liNe for some T-shirts.
The moral of the story is....double check your tickets, no matter how far in advance you buy them and no matter how sure you are of the date. Dolly Parton waits for no one. She shouldn't. She's Dolly Parton. And in case you're wondering, the show was amazing. It always is. I have vowed to make it up to my friend who missed the concert. Stay tuned to see how I do it.
