Friday, September 16, 2011

Concerts

We've been going to concerts at the State Fair this week. Tonight was Little River Band and REO Speedwagon. The Little River Band did a brilliant marketing thing - they took audience photos and put them on Facebook for people to tag themselves. By the time I looked at Facebook after the concert, it was already in my stream. Interesting tactic.

The grandstand was just trashed after the concerts tonight. I wanted to tell whoever cleans up - hey, I didn't leave any trash there. I didn't bring any in and I didn't leave any.

It was cold tonight, but that didn't seem to slow beer sales. I watched two guys in the row in front of me consume about - and I'm not exaggerating - 30 cups of beer each. I'm guessing there's about 16 ounces in each cup. I think they sell for $4 each. I will readily admit I could never hold my liquor, but I was astonished at the amount they drank and remained standing.

They arrived with two cardboard trays that hold four cups of beer each. They then made trips to get more every few minutes. They would both come back carrying one in each hand, and once brought back a new tray full of four more for each of them. Amazingly enough they were still functioning at the end of the concert.

Frankly, the beer made them no less appealing than when they started drinking. And, apparently to some it made them more attractive, because a Snooki-wannabe came down at one point and introduced herself by licking both of their faces and rubbing their bald heads. I wanted to tap her on the shoulder and say, "Hey, look, I know it's hard to believe, but even you can do better." But, then I wasn't sure that was true. After all, as far as I know, the Guidos had not gone around licking people they didn't know on their beer runs.

The music was good. The sideshow was pretty disturbing. Fortunately, the folks near me were all great. I really felt for the people the tri-state rejects were crawling over every few minutes in their quest for more beer. And I felt for the ushers who were trying to keep some semblance of order. And I feel for the people who have to clean the spilled beer, discarded cups and other trash.

People apparently forget that just because they're listening to the music of their youth, doesn't mean they can't act like adults. Responsible adults. Who clean up after themselves.

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2 comments:

GingerLewman said...

Glad you had a good time. I was hoping everyone would be warm enough.

As for those folks who clean up? My husband works at The Fair, and while he doesn't work at the grandstands, I'm sure glad he has a job. Because of these slobs last night, several people are getting paid. Of course that makes the grandstand ticket prices higher, but that's the other side of the coin.

That's also why I always accept the grocery help out of Dillons even though I'm perfectly capable and *should* do it myself. If we all refused, those jobs would go away. The reality is that this country is now a service-industry nation with service driving our economy.

Patsy Terrell said...

There's a middle ground between needing people to clean the grandstands and what was left last night. Good grief - it was a mess! I'm guessing, although I don't know, but I'm guessing they have the same number of people to clean the grandstand after every concert but they had to work extra hard after that one! I do see your point.