Post by bexface on Mar 13, 2003 18:40:04 GMT -5
On my side of the right hand (that is, the lower peninsula of Michigan), the temps had been predicted to break into the 40s and be partly cloudy. Good enough for me, I thought. Drove up to GR to make it to DeVos by quarter of eleven. I found five other diehards standing around on the bridge behind the theatre. This was based on the M&G gathering spot having been there back in ?01. We were a good crowd. Yes, it was cold but getting warmer and the sun even poked out at one time. By the time 1 o?clock rolled around, we had passed ten; by 2 o?clock it had stabilized at 17 or so. We kept our spirits up by building a mini-snowman on a post, replete with cigarette butts for arms and a twizzler stick for a mouth. (Later, we put him out of his brief miserable life.) None of the traditional crowd bulging and last-minute agressives showed up so we were pretty hopeful that we would all get to meet Tori. I still was skeptical and placing the probabilities at 50-50, given the Toledo M&G had been cancelled.
Then the probabilities started taking a nosedive. First, someone had discovered that the local radio station had put on a contest where you could call in to do an inside M&G with Tori. Second, little intermittent snowflakes turned into big clumps of matted, wet snow and the wind had picked up. Third, it was getting towards 3 o?clock and neither Joel nor Patrick had showed up to tell us it was either happening or not (whereas in Toledo, the day before, Patrick had showed up at 1 o?clock to tell those that M&G was cancelled). We walked around confused and by the ticket counter. They knew nothing. Finally, we went back outside. One of the local security dudes told us it was cancelled. We were bummed that the radio station got its own indoor M&G while we diehards waited out in the snow and would get none. Finally, Joel showed up (about quarter to 4) and officially gave us the bad news. He took our cards and gifts and we trotted off, despondent and down-trodden. Too bad it hadn?t happened as 17 people makes for a very intimate M&G, nothing like I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing before.
Once in a while, someone would say something like ?I?m going to bitch to Tori.? But, you know folks, this is just a bad attitude to carry forth. Tori does not make us stand out in the cold and the snow. We do it. We do it because of the intensity of our love for her is such that we need to see her, to talk to her, to get something signed, whatever tangible form that admiration and love may take. We do it to ourselves. Or, as Steve Sanchez would say, ?Do you want to be here?? Invariably, the answer is ?yes? so, if it is, don?t bitch. It either will or won?t happen. The Rotterdam M&G cured any of those feelings or thoughts I had before. Even if I don?t get to meet her, at least I meet a whole new group of awesome, cool people. Even if I only met her, say, once every ten M&Gs, I would still go to every one and keep on going. Because it is so worth it. My advice to you is that if you get disappointed in the way a M&G turned out, don?t give up. Keep on going, keep on trying, even if it won?t be until the next tour. Because it is so worth it.
Then the probabilities started taking a nosedive. First, someone had discovered that the local radio station had put on a contest where you could call in to do an inside M&G with Tori. Second, little intermittent snowflakes turned into big clumps of matted, wet snow and the wind had picked up. Third, it was getting towards 3 o?clock and neither Joel nor Patrick had showed up to tell us it was either happening or not (whereas in Toledo, the day before, Patrick had showed up at 1 o?clock to tell those that M&G was cancelled). We walked around confused and by the ticket counter. They knew nothing. Finally, we went back outside. One of the local security dudes told us it was cancelled. We were bummed that the radio station got its own indoor M&G while we diehards waited out in the snow and would get none. Finally, Joel showed up (about quarter to 4) and officially gave us the bad news. He took our cards and gifts and we trotted off, despondent and down-trodden. Too bad it hadn?t happened as 17 people makes for a very intimate M&G, nothing like I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing before.
Once in a while, someone would say something like ?I?m going to bitch to Tori.? But, you know folks, this is just a bad attitude to carry forth. Tori does not make us stand out in the cold and the snow. We do it. We do it because of the intensity of our love for her is such that we need to see her, to talk to her, to get something signed, whatever tangible form that admiration and love may take. We do it to ourselves. Or, as Steve Sanchez would say, ?Do you want to be here?? Invariably, the answer is ?yes? so, if it is, don?t bitch. It either will or won?t happen. The Rotterdam M&G cured any of those feelings or thoughts I had before. Even if I don?t get to meet her, at least I meet a whole new group of awesome, cool people. Even if I only met her, say, once every ten M&Gs, I would still go to every one and keep on going. Because it is so worth it. My advice to you is that if you get disappointed in the way a M&G turned out, don?t give up. Keep on going, keep on trying, even if it won?t be until the next tour. Because it is so worth it.