UnrealisticExpectations 3.0

Seriously.

Sydney’s 3.5 years old–a big girl who, after watching “Happy Feet”, apparently loves to dance and wiggle around. So, this morning when trudging through the overnight deluge of SPAM, I found a concert update for Chicago and saw that “Ralph’s World” is playing at our local House of Blues.

I used to see Ralph (Covert) in his band “The Bad Examples” years and years ago at the 9th Street Pub in gloriously scenic LaSalle, Illinois, and Ralph even used to hit on my then gf. People change, life moves on, he’s doing the kid thing and I’ve got a kid and this is about her not some guy-thing from 15 or so years ago. Maturity RAWKS!

We talked about it briefly this morning–tickets are $15 each, we’d take a train downtown in the morning and Sydney would dig that, then we’d see the show, grab some lunch and head to the Shedd to check out the fishies, get thoroughly exhausted and probably pass out on the train ride home.

Good times.

I go online. I purchase the tickets–I even get 3 free songs on iTunes and a free iTunes sampler! Sweet!

Then, because I didn’t really watch the course of events unfold on my screen, I see that my $45 in tickets has just netted me a charge of:

$79.95

WTF? Did I buy 5 tickets instead?

No, no folks, I did not.

See, I know many people hate Ticketmaster. I’ve always kind of been aware of it, but likened it to hating a Wal~Mart or PayPal or some other thing that I find a use for. It just happens. People need their causes and their reasons to be upset and if I explored those things further instead of being selfish about my own wants and needs, I may be pissed-off, too.

But today, well, today I learned why Ticketmaster is nothing but artful douchebaggery.

Artful.

Douchebaggery.

I said it.

What a bunch of fucking chimps. $80 for a kids event that should have cost me $50ish. I could have gotten tickets at our local Morton Arboretum in July, most likely for a lot less AND probably could have gotten an annual family membership, to boot. But the whole “Big Day in the Big City” appealed to is, so it was less about the money and more about the entire experience.

Here’s my experience:

Purchase Summary
Event/Item Qty Type Sec Row Seats Description
Ralphs World
House of Blues Chicago
Chicago, IL
Sat, Jun 2, 2007 09:00 AM 3 FULL PRICE TICKET G.A.
PRICE LEVEL 1
GENERAL ADMISSION TICKETS

Ralphs World
FULL PRICE TICKET US $15.00 x 3 Facility Charge US $1.50 x 3
Convenience Charge US $7.50 x 3 (WTF!!! That’s mighty convenient… for Ticketmaster!)

Delivery (TicketFast Delivery) US $2.50
Order Processing Fee US $4.55

Additional Taxes US $0.90
Total Charges US $79.95

Enjoy my money, Ticketmaster. I cannot wait for someone to find the right new way to knock you off your pedestal.

Jagoffs.