Tonight I am attending an Amy Grant concert with my wife and kids. The last time I saw her in concert brings back fun memories. I was 17 years old and a jr in high school. I thought the upcoming concert would be a great opportunity for a date. The problem was the girl I was crushing on, Angie, was a few months shy of her 16th birthday. Unfortunately her parents said she couldn’t date until then. Not one to be easily discouraged, especially when it comes to matters of the heart, I devised a plan. The first thing I had to do was procure good seats. Since the tickets went on sale at 10am on a school day, and since my high school had a closed campus, I knew I would have to work hard to get permission to leave school. I don’t remember much of the conversation with my parents, but it came down to them being okay with me skipping a period or two since I was getting straight A’s and all my homework was caught up. They sent me to school with a note that said as long as it was okay with my principal that they gave me permission to drive to the Westgate Mall and stand in line at the Select-A-Seat outlet waiting for the tickets to go on sale at 10am. I met Mr. Wykoff right outside his office door before school started. I pleaded my case about needing to get good floor seats for a Christian concert (I failed to mention anything about the date). He in turn asked about my school work, which classes I would be missing, and what my parents had to say about it. I handed him the note and he studied it carefully. Then he looked up at me with one of his big grins and mercifully allowed me to leave campus. I rushed to the mall, got in line, and was the first to purchase tickets from that location. It paid off and I walked out with not only floor seats, but front row seats. My plan was beginning to fall into place. The next morning I strode up to Angie’s mother’s car as she was dropping off her daughter. I put on my best Eddie Haskel impersonation and went forward with my pitch. “You sure are looking nice today, Mrs. Jenkins.” She smiled back at me although I could see that she was suspicious. “Thank you, Chad.” “I had something to ask you, if I could borrow just a moment of your time on this beautiful morning.” She started laughing. I liked where this was going. She nodded for me to continue. Well, I know that you and Mr. Jenkins have a policy that Angie can’t date until she is 16. Let me just say that I really admire your parenting and that you have set good boundaries for your daughter. I really respect that. So with that in mind I wanted to share something important with you. I have been able to get front row seats for the upcoming Amy Grant concert. I would really like to take Angie, as I know what a big fan she is of Amy Grant too, but of course there is this thing about her not dating.” Mrs. Jenkins’ smile was beginning to fade so I knew this next part was going to have to be magical. “But here is the thing, this isn’t really a date. I actually have three tickets to the concert and I am also taking my little brother, Trevor. And we both know, if you have your little brother along, it can’t really be classified as a date.” She looked at me for a few scary seconds and then burst into laughter. “Well Chad, you have got me there. Let me talk to Mr. Jenkins and we will see what we can do.” They ended up granting me permission with my creative loophole and I made a point to show off Trevor to them when I pulled up to get Angie before the concert. I had also sufficiently bribed my brother to go to a concert that he didn’t want to go to, to be seen and not heard, so that I could enjoy this non-date date with Angie. Thank you Amy Grant for helping me make these memories. See you tonight with Jamie. Trevor wont be needed.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 21:13:06 +0000