The other day, I wrote down a couple experiences I never mentioned in The Story of My Life.
Let me rewind to August, 2009. Rocky and I went with a group of friends to a Randy Rogers Band concert at Nutty Brown Cafe. Hands down, this is one of my favorite bands and also one of my favorite places to see a show in Austin.
We went to the concert with a mixed group of friends after a long, hot day of boating on Lake Austin. Sunburned and burned out, we rallied to see RRB. We traveled in different cars and ended up losing some of the friends in our group as it was PACKED outside the amphitheater. I'd never seen it like that before. (Later, we would learn it was the most people ever at Nutty Brown for a show.)
We were standing in what seemed like a 50-yard-long line of people waiting to enter. Although I bought our tickets online, we had to pick them up at will call. This mass of people was the will call line. Ugggh. All we wanted to do was get in, grab a beer, and check out the band.
We could see inside, and the lines at the bar were equally out of control. I was beginning to wish we would have either arrived earlier or headed back home once we saw the overflowing parking lot (more on this later). As we stood there in the back of the line, trying to spot our friends at various points in the other lines, I noticed a couple (probably in their late 30s or early 40s) kind of wandering around. I smiled at them, and they walked right up to me.
"Excuse me, we were wondering if you two would like to sit with us in the VIP section of the show. You see, we bought a table and our two friends were unable to make it."
Hmm. Let me think. Fifty-yard-long line ... jam-packed, standing room only crowd ... pushy people OR the alternative: joining these strangers at their private table in the VIP section, complete with table, chairs AND a personal waiter!?!
Before I said yes, I stopped and thought about how I'd feel if I were one of our other friends. We did come with a big group of people. It's not like we came with just one other person and would be leaving her/him in the dust. I imagined how I'd feel if two of our friends were hand-selected to sit in the VIP section. Well, I'd be jealous as all get-out, but I would be thrilled for them. How cool, right? So, we said yes and we joined our new friends and waiter for the show.
After we made our way through the crowd of sweaty cowboy boot-wearing Texas country music fans, we chit-chatted with our sponsors. I mentioned how it was a struggle just making it out of the parking lot and to the line we were standing in. You see, the lots at these outdoor concert venues are big, empty fields. There was no one directing traffic that night, and naturally it became a free-for-all. People were parking any- and everywhere they could.
I spotted a fantastic place for Rocky to park his big truck. I got out and said, "Yes! Park here!" Little did I know the reason no one had taken my perfect parking spot was because it was a pile of sinking dirt. Rocky pulled in and his two-wheel drive truck sank right on down. After 15 minutes of back-and-forth, he was finally able to get it out of the mud. Many, many people walked by and gave me the, "Oh. Yeah. He shouldn't have parked there" looks.
I was panicking. But, in true Rocky fashion, he was cool as a cucumber and didn't express any worry. I'm pretty sure he was ready for a beer, however, and I told him I'd drive home since I was the one who got us in that mess to begin with. Annnnnyway, our new friends said they had seen us struggling with the truck. They didn't know that was us when they randomly chose us to sit with them. The lady said they chose us because we were at the very back of the looooong line, and she liked my dress-boots combo (of course I liked this response!).
We had a great time living the VIP lifestyle that stifling hot August night. It's an Austin memory I'll never forget.
Happily sitting down ...
While everyone else was packed into the amphitheater!
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