(Why is Jesus in the subject field?  To get by my uncle's spam filter.)

IN WHICH We Sit In Our Seats, Enjoy The Game From Afar, Have Our Idyllic Bliss Shattered, AND Then Watch The Rest of The Game.

The ticket said Section 219.

The sign said 218/219.

So when we came out of the exit, I turned right and climbed the right side of the stairs, followed by eight kids and two chaperones.

I have better vision in my right eye than my left.  A great deal better at long distances, actually.  I can see the computer screen the same with both, but if I turn to my right and look at my wall (10 feet away) with my left eye, words I can read clearly with my right eye become fuzzy.  To avoid annoying and unnecessary complications during yearly physicals, I have memorized parts of the eye chart, and I dutifully read the 20/40 line whenever my left eye is tested.  This I have done for several years.  So though my right eye sees 20/20, I honestly don't know what my vision is in my left eye - and I don't really want to.

So I am prepared to blame this little visual problem for my turning right, and taking the right side of the stairs.  The idea of taking the left never occurred to me.  I was being followed, the game had started, and I was making the decision under pressure.  So go up the right we did, and climbed the stairs to the top row.

The 76ers were undefeated at the time, and the building was absolutely packed.  But a large amount of seats were still open near our section, both because of the parking shortage and the tendency for youth groups to be late.  We all managed to sit down and started watching the game.  Every Sixers basket was punctuated by an intense scream from the PA announcer - "THREEEEEE POINTER FROM ALLLLLLENNNNNN IIIIIIVERSONNNNNN!"  Each Philadelphia point brought him to the height of ecstasy.  On the contrary, when Miami scored, he sounded like the guy at the Big M meat counter.  "Brian Grant."  Yawn.  "Anthony Carter."  I hate this job.  "3-pointer.  Eddie House."  Here's your 2 pounds of salami, sir.

Miami jumped out to an early lead, though George Lynch pulled the Sixers to within seven at the half with a desperation 3.  As the first half was progressing, two confused Asian men wandered over to our seats, and asked me a few questions about our seats.  219, I said.  They sat down.  They saw a friend of theirs a section over, but decided to stay where they were instead, though he asked them to join him.

After the halftime show was over, the Sixers began a comeback, and started to go off on what would become an 18-0 tear.  I was still holding Mike's nachos, trying not to eat too many while he was off looking for Important Paperwork.  Suddenly, more confused Asian men came up the stairs, and started pointing at our seats.  Jason started talking to them, and their general argument was that we were in their seats.  I didn't think this was possible.  I had seen the sign!  So I told the kids around me that we weren't going to have to move.  Think of how awkward and difficult it would be, and look - there are open seats right there in the next section!

They left for a little while, and returned with a female security guard, who examined everyone's tickets.  Uh oh.  We were in the wrong section.  We needed to go left on the stairs.  Stupid eye.  Jason continued to ask them to sit in (our) wide open seats in the next section.

The security woman took a look at how many of us there were, and how many kids, and she politely asked the guy if he wouldn't mind sitting in the next section.  He had perfected a look that was half-perplexed and half-offended, and he used it to its full effect at this point.  It was as if we had plotted to sit in his group's seats as some sort of deep insult to everything he stood for, and maybe he didn't fully understand what was going on, but we weren't going to get away with it FOR ONE MORE SECOND!

The security guard told us to move.

Jason asked the man one more time.  He shook his head and pointed at his seats.

We all filed out, carrying our tons of stuff, and walked over to the next section.  As I walked by the man, I asked him why he couldn't just sit in these seats to begin with, and why he had to make us all move, and how happy I was that he had done it.  I was irritated, but also quite amused at his pettiness.

The security woman told me, "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to calm down."

That really made me laugh.

After he got his people situated, he gave us several looks to let us know how he had overcome our evil plan to sit in seats that were not legally our own.  "Don't try that again, not with me," he glared.

But it all turned out well.  The Sixers won 94-73, and improved to 9-0.

And we had a better view from the new seats.

TO BE CONTINUED

Part Nine

NHS Speech

"My View" Editorial

The October Surprise
|  Round 1 |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |
|   6  |  7  |  8  |  9  |  10  |
|  11  |  12  |  Final Bell  |

Journey to Jersey II
|  Intro  |  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |
|   6  |  7  |  8  |  9  |  10  |  11  |
|  12  |  13  |  14  |  15  |

Journey to Jersey I
|  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |   6  |  7  |  8  |
|  9  |  10  |  11  |  12  |  13  |  14  |
|  15  |  16  |  17  |  18  |  19  |  20  |

An Epic Saga
|  Act  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |
|   6  |  7  |  8  |  9  |  10  |  11  |
|  12  |  13  |  14  |  15  |  16  |

Christian Rock Email

Freshman Room Draw
|  Part One  |  Two  |
|  Three  |  Four  |  Five  |