Being invited
My daughter nudged me about my interest in going to see a show at the casino. Then when I said I could be interested, she asked me if I wanted to go with her. Being asked to go anywhere with her always makes me feel like I was asked by one of the popular kids at school.
Of course I would go
I didn’t think twice, I tagged in right away and we decided which one of us would order the tickets. She was delivering a training program out-of-town, so I was elected to get on the phone right at 10:00 am and order the tickets. We decided that wheelchair seating would be best and we were sure that our plan would work out fine.
Getting the tickets
In the two-week window before tickets went on sale, we couldn’t stop talking about what the show would be like and how close to the stage we could likely get. We got more and more excited. The day came and I got on the phone.
Now, I don’t go out a lot and, I never go to Casinos. In fact I have only been once and that was with my husband some time during the last century. I rarely order any show tickets online and have never ordered tickets through these new websites. Put it this way, the last time I ordered tickets I had a live person to talk to.
I found it pretty daunting navigating the ticket buy and I had a hard time after the instructions. Finally a colleague, feeling very sorry for me, got on the phone.
Now, by her own admission, she attends the Casino like the rest of us attend church and she had a special card that worked just fine. Before I could say “Holy Cow” I had a confirmation number in my email. However, in my excitement I forgot to tell her about the wheelchair seating.
Panic sets in
Oh no! I forgot about the wheelchair seating. Its like playing the slots. You get so caught up in the fact that you were getting the tickets that the main issue gets overlooked.
I tried to call around to get the tickets exchanged but the venue was already sold out. No chance of getting a refund, exchange or wheelchair seating. And, yes there were 12 stairs to go up to our current seats. I can’t walk up 12 stairs.
The plan
It was OK, in fact I was down right cool about it until about 2 weeks from the venue. Then I started to panic.
I started out by saying to my daughter that maybe she could ask someone else to go with her and take my ticket. No, was the reply. Then I started questioning how I would handle the 4 hour drive. It would be fine, she assured me. We planned to get a cane for me so I could make it into the theater. Finally she told me to start planning to ease my anxiety.
I called the venue again and got a live person who assured me that all tickets were sold out and I would NOT be able to transfer my tickets to wheelchair seating. So I asked what other’s did in this situation. Finally I got my answer.
He prompted me to have a look at the floor plan and directed me to where I would find it. Then I told him I was not comfortable using a cane and was sure I would need my walker.
OK, was the response. Bring your walker and use it all day and when you get to the theater go straight to your isle and security will tag your walker and keep it for you until after the show. OMG! it was all going to be fine. Anxiety lifted knowing that I could be comfortable with my walker. Problem solved because we planned ahead.
The execution
We didn’t hurry because if I hurry, I get anxiety and that causes panic so there was no set time that we would leave. Instead I showered the night before and we decided that we would sleep as late as we wanted and make plans in the morning when we got up.
We had bacon and eggs and shared a pot of coffee before we hit the road, we enjoyed the ride on the 407, stopped for a late lunch and didn’t really need any dinner. Playing the slots we lost our $30.00 and went straight into the theater. We were seated in plenty of time before the show started and we even took our first selfie.
Success!
I had a great day at the casino with my daughter and enjoyed an amazing show that evening. We had an uneventful drive home listening to all of our favourite music.
I never did tell you who we saw. We saw Theresa Caputo The Long Island Medium, and although we were not lucky enough to get a reading the entire day was still a Blast!
Socializing is such an important element of everyone’s mental health and add’s meaning to your life. It’s nice every once in a while to step out of your own world of chronic illness.
My daughter and I worked through the anxiety, got a plan together, created a solution for any possible problems that could crop up and SUCCESS!
Remember that we can manifest this to be a great outing, a good outing or a terrible outing. The choice is entirely yours.