This is a story that explains something that is "Just a Greer Thing." This would only happen to me because sometimes I can be... stupid. But I won't ruin the story for you.
About two years ago, in the summer of 2018, I took a trip with my mom and brothers to West Palm Beach. Barrett and Braden had a baseball tournament down there, but I went for the vacation. However, I was distraught because I would be missing the Harry Styles concert in Atlanta. It's not like I had tickets or anything, but that meant the possibility of me buying last minute tickets and going to see him in Atlanta was out of the question. Before we went, I realized Harry would be in Sunrise, Florida, the week we were at West Palm. Sunrise was only about 45 minutes away, especially if we took the high-speed train that connects West Palm, Fort Lauderdale and Miami. For reference, Sunrise was right outside of Fort Lauderdale.
After begging my mom before the trip and during to go to the concert, she finally gave in. Of course, we had to see how Barrett and Braden's baseball games were going to go and were scheduled. On the day of the concert, they only had games in the morning, so mom decided that she and I would be able to go to the show. Mind you, this was two days before the concert, very last minute planning. We bought two tickets for a pretty good price. They were located on the side of the stage on the slanted, upper part of the arena. We figured out how to take the train and boom: the concert was planned. I was so happy and so excited.
I'm obviously a Harry Styles super-fan. I've seen him (in One Direction who I also love) three times before this concert. So, missing out on his first solo tour was going to be really upsetting to me. I know it does not seem like a big deal at all to most people, but to me, someone who's been a fan since 7th grade, it was kind of a big deal.
The day comes for the concert. While everyone was at baseball games, I worked on my online classes, laid by the pool, and mentally prepared to see Harry on stage in a few short hours. I got ready, wearing a brand new jumpsuit that I bought specifically in case we went to the concert. Mom came back to the house and got herself ready too. Next thing I knew, we were in the car headed to the station to go to Fort Lauderdale.
I had bought the tickets on StubHub. StubHub is not a direct ticket buying site. You buy tickets from someone else who has already purchased the tickets. Usually, they are mobile tickets, which means the ticket is just on your phone. I checked to see if they needed to be printed beforehand, but they didn't. They were going to be emailed to you, which you could use from your phone or print. Since we weren't at home and we didn't have a printer, I obviously was just thinking we would use them from our phone.
As mom was driving to the station, I went ahead and was going to download the tickets onto my phone, so I would have them prepared. I probably should have done this before we had left, but I knew I did not need to print them, so I thought it would be okay. I went to my email to check for the tickets, and they weren't there. I went through every email I had in my inbox, almost looking for them. I panicked, but I knew I shouldn't show it because then mom would probably be very mad at me (as anyone would most likely be). She was already stressed about taking this train and going to a city we don't know for a concert.
What had happened with my tickets was that I logged into my Facebook to purchase the tickets. My Facebook was linked to my first Gmail account I had made in Elementary school. I've been locked out of that email account for years. So, when the seller on StubHub emailed me the tickets, they went to the email linked to my Facebook...which was the unused email. That's why I could not get them. I tried to log into my ancient Gmail account, but it was impossible. Google's security is probably more reliable than the President's secret service detail. It's impossible to log in to an account when you get locked out.
Anyways, I was on the phone with StubHub customer support basically the whole way to Fort Lauderdale. Yes, at this point, my mom did know we basically had no tickets. We were going to a concert with no tickets. The customer support man was super nice and helped me a lot. We tried to contact the seller to let them know to resend the tickets to the correct email address I use. We tried again logging into my old Gmail. He tried to access the tickets from his side of StubHub. Nothing was working. At this point, I'm on the train, about to cry. I was so mad at myself. I tried to plan out something fun for me and mom to do while on a trip for my brothers; I felt as if I was being responsible, and failing just proved I was irresponsible. I also was just sad in general that I was so close to seeing Harry and would not be able to. The customer support agent kept putting me on hold while trying to figure out how to gain access to the two tickets we bought. Every time he came back on the phone, he would say, "Hey Greerrrrr," which put a smile on my face because he was genuinely trying everything he could to help me.
After 30 minutes or more on the phone with StubHub, the man helping said, "the last thing I can do is look for tickets that haven't been purchased and add those tickets to your account... for free." I almost cried when he said that. But at the same time, I was trying not to seem too excited. He put me on hold for a minute, which was the longest minute of my life. He came back on the phone and said, "Hey Greerrrrrr, so, I found two tickets exactly where you would originally be sitting but on the other side of the arena. I got the green light from management to add them to your account for no change since the concert is coming up in a few hours and they probably won't sell," I was jumping for joy. Mom's stress kind of faded away. Everything was going to be okay! I thanked him thousand times over and over again. He told me that he "didn't want to hear about a crying Greer outside of the Harry Styles concert because she made a mistake when buying tickets." Honestly, that is precisely what would have happened if he hadn't helped me out.
So, yes, I got to see Harry Styles live and in action at the end of the day. After a panic attack, mom stressed out (and a little mad at me), a few tears, and a long phone call with StubHub man, I got two free tickets to see Harry. Not sure if they were completely free because we did pay for two tickets (even if we couldn't access them), but we did get two more tickets! Essentially, we had four tickets. Harry performed amazingly. He always does. He is probably one of the best performers of our generation, but that may just be my bias showing. Not to mention, he is incredibly hot. But that's another topic that I could talk about for days. Anyways, shout out to StubHub customer support man because I would've been devastated without his help. I also cannot forget to shout out to mom for taking a risk with me and letting me plan a little concert trip... maybe I almost ruined it, but I also fixed it!
I'm sure if you hadn't heard me tell this story before, you thought this was going to be some cool story about how I won a radio contest or something. This story wasn't that cool, but I think it is more exciting since the story all stems from my stupidity, and StubHub man saving the day. I was supposed to see Harry Styles again for his second solo tour at the end of this July, but COVID-19 has made that impossible. I'll be seeing Harry NEXT October, a month before I turn 23. Maybe by then, I will have learned something from my 19-year-old self and plan ahead, be responsible, and not send the tickets to the wrong email address.
A photo to prove I actually made it inside the concert:
A photo of my mom and I outside the arena:
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