Tickets

I don’t know if you have ever tried to get tickets to a sporting event in Colorado but it can turn into a very valuable lesson in patience, anger management and futility. This task is magnified when you have a computer disability as I.  

On July 1, I decided to take the family to see a Rockies game along with the fireworks, on July 4.  First of all, it’s impossible to receive tickets through a “box office” as we did for the past eighty years. The convenience of calling or visiting a box office is over. Worse yet, it’s hard to even find a “scalper”!   If you want to purchase tickets, you are thrown into a vortex of pass-codes, passwords, subscriptions, advertisements and memberships.

All I wanted was 6 tickets to see the events of July the 4th. I contacted a popular ticket outlet to purchase my tickets. l was immediately confronted with a multitude of advertisements about coming attractions, eating establishments and “deals” of the day. After navigating that barrage of useless information, I was allowed to select seats that might interest me. I selected 6 seats that I thought would give us the best view of the fireworks. This is where the fun really began. To pay, I was asked for my password that I didn’t have. They were happy to assign a password which also came with a membership!  Along with the password, I was also assigned a pass-code (that I was warned not to share with anyone.. duh). After all of that, they were more than happy to take my credit card number which I found, instantaneously came out of my “debt” account, “paid in full”.   

Now, this is where it really gets tricky. How do I receive my tickets? Logic would dictate that they would simply e-mail them to me. Oh, no, no, no. I had to use my new pass codes and password, neither of which were recognized by their system. I had to wait an hour before I would be officially “in the system”!  After an hour had passed, I received an e-mail telling me that I had to again enter their system with my codes and passwords to receive my “QR” code. After accessing their system, I was told that the tickets would not be ready until game day. (Frustrated yet?). Two hours before game time, my Master degreed daughter worked for 20 minutes and finally found our tickets. After reviewing the receipt, I found where they charged my $11 per ticket for a CONVENIENCE FEE!!! To add insult to injury, when we located our seats at the stadium, we discovered the seats were located under the second level overhang making it impossible to view anything! However, we could see the game but not until the sun set after the 6th inning. We were blinded up until that time!!!  

I thought to myself, how much easier will it be for us to get into heaven!?! Not a three-hour baseball experience but an eternity with our Lord!! Through His Son Jesus, God has paved the way for us.  No passwords, no codes, no special fees, no blind spots! The path is clear! Jesus said in, John 14: 1-3 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me”.  v.3 “I go to prepare a place for you.  I will come again and take you there myself”. Believe! It can’t get easier than that!! Your debt is paid in full when Jesus died on the cross. Still feel unworthy? Jesus said, in Hebrews 10:17 “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”  v18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin”. What? No convenience fee?  Jesus is the “way, the truth and the life.” Relax! Jesus has this!!

May the Lord bless and keep you!!

Kent Patton, Operations Manager