Adventures in Concert Attending

I should start by saying that we survived without being raped, murdered, or kidnapped.

Looking back on the night that could have been my last night alive, it is quite comical. It all started when my friend, Wendy, invited me to see a Daughtry concert in Minneapolis. I figured "why not"; I had watched Daughtry's climb to fame on American Idol, knew some of his songs, and was looking forward to some good company in the car for the 2 1/2 hour drive. So away we went.

Remember the movie "Adventures in Babysitting" starring Elizabeth Shue? Wendy and I could have been stars of that movie with our adventures in Concert Attending. Downtown Minneapolis is a foreign area for both us small town girls, but we're both capable and intelligent adults. The first foreshadowing clue that the evening ahead would be more than ordinary was when I nearly killed a lady crossing in a crosswalk. Did I mention she was in a wheelchair? In the process I almost got us killed as well.

I am driving my car and make a simple turn across a 2 lane highway. In doing so, I notice the wheelchair lady making her way across the street. Instinctively, I brake for her, but it turns out I am now stalled in the middle of the 2 lane street of approaching traffic. We hear Honk Honk from the oncoming traffic as a warning signal for us to move, but my only option would have been to knock off this seemingly nice lady. Meanwhile the wheelchair lady gives us a very concerned look on her face and she tries to make her motorized chair travel just a bit faster. We made it across unscathed. And so did she.

Scene two of our Adventure involved the questionable ramp we parked our car which clearly advertised "EVENT PARKING: $4". We pull in to this ramp that was a cross between quite fancy and uber scary, complete with a steep ramp, automatic arm lever and self serve windshield cleaning materials. We were smart and parked by a door and I even remembered to bring my parking ramp ticket "just in case". That proved rather useful later on in the evening.

We finally made our way to our venue after travelling blocks and blocks through a skyway system that led us through a bank, a restaurant, a mall, and numerous shops. It did occur to me that perhaps this skyway system could be closed after our concert let out, but it IS a skyway afterall, AND we parked in EVENT PARKING so naturally we'd be able to get back to our ramp, right? Ahem....

Both of us enjoyed the concert, and gave thanks that neither one of us got a nosebleed from the height at which we were sitting. Though I do think that we both were sending up silent prayers that we'd be able to get to the car following the concert.

Fast Forward to the climax of our very real movie. The concert has ended and we're just hoping that the doors to the skyway are not locked. They aren't. Whew, what a relief! We continue on our journey through the skyway until we approach the mall area where we encounter what we were so afraid of. No further access into the skyway! We are now in a slight panic. Do we walk outside? The only problem is we don't know where exactly we'd be walking to. I do have the parking ramp ticket with an address, but we don't know the area nor do we trust the area to be walking aimlessly lost.

While discussing our options, a very nice gentleman offers his assistance. We tell him our problem and after some discussion, he offers to drive us to our vehicle. He is wearing a Target Center shirt (clearly an employee), he introduces himself as "Brian", and point blank tells us that he is "not a creep or anything". He resembles Bill Gates and seems very sincere and gentle. But so did Ted Bundy.

We are both conflicted. Either walk Downtown Minneapolis to some unknown destination or hop in a vehicle with a strange middle age man. Wendy has her cell phone and begins texting her boyfriend our decision to accept a ride from Brian. He clearly doesn't hear the hidden message in the words of the text that indicate this could be our death sentence, and he very simply texts back "be careful".

Brian seems rather nice, makes small talk, and he even shows us the building where his sister works...for what reason, we don't know. We learn he has a wife and daughter. Using the address from the parking ramp ticket I cleverly brought along, he very harmlessly drives us to our destination where we have to alert the security guards to open the doors so we can get to the car. It all worked out very much in our favor and we are indebted to Brian for helping out two lost girls. In all the confusion and nerves, I neglected to offer a token of our appreciation to Brian, but I think he knows just how grateful we are. Both that he helped us out and that he didn't kill us.