The Tickets, part II
                                                                                         6/29/2001

So we didn't get to the beach until 6. Yeesh. But it turns out the sky was pretty cloudy, so we wouldn't have seen
much of anything anyway. And oh my gosh, the beach was so nice! That was my first time ever going, and I'm so
ashamed! Living in Boston for almost seven months, and not realizing the beach was only a simple train ride away. I'm
blushing as I type this.

The beach was nice and sandy. Oh, I just love the feel of sand! I can't get enough of running sand through my fingers.
It's an amazing feeling. There were seashells everywhere, too...Unfortunately, there wasn't much variety, just the two
kinds you find on clams and snails. Actually, I don't really know if they were clam or snail shells, but I wouldn't have a
heart attack if I found either one wearing the shells we found.

After a while, I got pretty freaked out about picking up seashells - I found way too many with the animal still inside! If I
were ten, I would have been fascinated. But I wasn't (I can't even stand bugs), and soon I was kicking the shells over
before picking them up.

Okay, now's a good time to reiterate that this was in mid-March. I don't know if you've ever been in Boston just after
the sun rose on a March day, but it is frickin' cold! Brrrrr! So yeah, after picking up so many seashells still wet from the
even colder ocean, my hands grew numb. And the wind! Dear Lord Almighty, the wind! So to sum it up, it was pretty
chilly, and even though we thought the beach was really nifty, we soon decided to go somewhere warmer, perferrably
where breakfast was being served.

For some reason, as we walked along the sidewalk bordering the non-ocean side of the beach, we discovered that
there were no seaside restaurants. We saw some condos and other business-like buildings, but no stores of any kind.
 But we kept looking, thinking that we saw some promising-looking areas up ahead.

On our walk, we past an elderly couple, and we exchanged pleasant greetings, the kind that makes you feel glad for
being a human being. The guy of this couple was wearing a plastic green St. Patrick's Day hat.

Finally, we reached a small restaurant that advertized breakfast. Inside there were only six tables/booths, and they were
the really cheap, old, fast-food style, like the kind at White Castle. You even ordered at the counter. The food was
served by the lone cook/worker and came on dishes you find at nice, sit-down places (although they didn't actually
match). Jessica and I each got the breakfast special, which included eggs, potatoes, toast, and a choice of meat for $3,
and a cup of coffee for $1. Mmm, it was well worth the money. There were two other elderly guys there, each at his
own table. The one sitting at the table across from us asked us a few polite questions. The other guy didn't say much, but he listened with a friendly expression on his face.

Jessica and I fell in love with the place. It was a great experience.

We headed back to the train station that was now closer than the one we had gotten off of, and rode to Fanueil Hall.
By then it was probably around 8 or so, and the tickets didn't go onsale until 10. So we walked around the area, and I
showed Jessica the left-handed store, since she's just an avid lefty. Then, about 8:30, I walked up to the ticket stand to
make sure everything was okay.

A huge sign declared: WE DO NOT ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS

I just stared at it with huge eyes for several minutes, positive it was a lie. Then I began to jump up and down like I do
when I'm nervous and don't know what to do next. "Now what?" I asked. "Oh man. Oh man..." Sure, everything would
be okay if I had a list of the other ticketmaster locations, but of course I never bothered to make one. The ticket
counter wasn't open, so there was no one to ask there. The only way to get a list was to go online again, and the
closest online access I could use was back at Emerson, a good 20 minute walk away.

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