Day 69 - That damn fat lady sang

I hate every moment of sitting here writing this post.
Not because I hate to blog...but it's over...She sang....
That damn fat lady sang and it's over...for now.

I wish I could have bottled up the feelings and vibes that I encountered as I walked to the stadium from the parking garage.

The atmosphere was amazing! Everything felt like it was as big, if not bigger than it was during the All-Star Game festivities.

Enough of this blah, blah, blah....STORIES!

Now you'd think that with the final game, there'd be some amazing stories...well, you're right...sort of...there was at least one amazing moment during this final game of the '09 season.

-I walked to the top of a section and a lady in the top row asked for a beer. She looked like she was in her mid-to-late-40's and (who I can only assume to be her husband) was standing behind her. I gave her her beer and then she realized she needed to pay me. She seemed to act a little funny after I handed her the beer. She started to fumble through her pocket and pull out everything but money. She began to talk about how she thought she had some money in her pockets...She emptied out of her pockets a half-dozen receipts, some car keys, chapstick, fingernail clippers and a few quarters. Finally she found a few $1's and then her husband (who I could tell was frustrated/embarrassed by this woman) stretched out his hand with a $10 in it. I gave him back his change while the woman continued to search for money...she was talking to herself...as if she was encouraging herself to find money.

A few innings later I was walking back up to the top of that same section when I noticed this same woman start to walk back to her seat. As she started to sit down, she wobbled back and forth a bit...then gravity decided to her...she fell straight to the floor. She snapped back up and sat back into her seat. As her husband helped her sit upright, he just shook his head ashamed of what just took place. I was right there in front of her and immediately asked her if she was alright. She kept saying over and over again, "I'm Fine!" as if she needed to remind herself.

I followed protocol...alerted the closest usher and other beer men about the intoxicated cougar at the top of section 248.

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Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that unneeded reinforcements were brought in for the game. About 8 beer men from Chicago were brought into our commissary. These guys from Chicago were beer men at Soldier Field. About 50 more people were brought in from the military base in Ft. Leonard Wood to work throughout the stadium. I guess they were expecting a big crowd or something.

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After completing a sale, I tell the beer-drinking fan, "thank & enjoy the game." I had several instances when the fans would return with a, "yeah...well, we're trying to" or a "if we had a few more runs we will." Then towards the end of the game, fans would realize that this was it. The season was over after this game if we were to lose. Then they'd realize that this was potentially my last day of working too. A few fans asked what was next for me. "Are you going to work Blues or Rams games?" I laughed when they asked about Rams games. Then I'd tell them how I just accepted a temp job. I'll be in charge of an email marketing campaign and will be doing that till the end of '09. They would usually just say the usual, 'good luck with that' or 'see you next season'.

Hmmmm....next season...return as a beer man?...well that will be covered in a blog in the near future.

As for the end of this game, this season...it has been an amazing time.

I will post a few more blogs over the next 2 weeks...reflecting on different things that I never talked about during the season...as well as a special Cards/Cubs tribute blog.

So, until later on again this week, thank you faithful readers. It's been an amazing time!...just wish that fat lady could have waited to sing on another day.

Totals for 2009 season:
73 Bags of Cracker Jacks (at $3.50/bag = $255.50)
167 Bottles of Water (at $5/bottle = $835)
293 Bags of Peanuts (at $4/bag = $1172)
4564 Bottles of Beer (at $7.75/bottle = $35,371)
Grand Total for 2009 sales: $37633.50
(no, I did not make that much money, just a small commission of it)