Circus Time

It's that time of year again - The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus was in town the past few days and I for one couldn't have been happier. I think I've made it abundantly clear on several occasions that my love for the circus may be a wee bit unnatural. 

As is often the case, I got tickets the week they went on sale. I usually send my dad down to get tickets the day they go on sale, but I could never quite figure out what day that was going to be and so we missed it. Have no fear though, because I went the Monday (January 12) after they went on sale on Friday and managed to get great seats for me, my parents and my circus buddy Erika! 

Finally, the day of the show arrived. Erika picked me up about 5:30 and we met my parents and Ada at the VBC. My dad had bought Ada a ticket in the section next to us the day before the show. We went in when the doors opened at 6:00 p.m. and Erika and I made a pit stop before going to our seats and then venturing out the floor to get the up close and personal circus experience. When we arrived at our seats, we were surprised to find that our seats were not there because the Ringling folks had decided to set up their sound equipment in the handicapped section where our seats were. I turned to the usher and explained our dilemma and she took my ticket and immediately walked off - not saying a word. I chased after her, calling out, "ma'am" but she continued to ignore me and kept walking. We passed my parents who clearly had someone already on the case and I again tried to get the lady's attention and she again continued to ignore me. I followed her all the way to the stairs where you come in until I could go no further or else I wouldn't have been able to get back in. She finally came back with my ticket and declared she was making sure it was a valid ticket. At this point I was so fired up, it's a miracle I didn't hit this rude woman. 

To make a long, aggravating story short, after an hour of the VBC talking and conferencing among one another, it was finally decided that they would give me my money back and put us in some other available seats. So, I had to walk back with the ticket manager to get my money and our new tickets. The new tickets were at the end of the arena, not the center where I prefer to sit, but at least we were at the circus. Also, we now were all five sitting together so Ada didn't have to sit by herself which worked out better. Some of the views were obstructed, some were closer than we have ever been and the best part of all was that we could see the curtain being pulled back and see what was coming next. 

This version of the circus (Circus Extreme) was good, but not the best one I've ever seen. For starters they didn't have what I love to refer to as The Globe of Death. There also weren't as many animal acts. They did have a lot of interesting human acts though and a lot f the time I got more enjoyment out of looking at the wonder on Ada's face than I did the actual show. 

All in all, after my blood pressure settled down and we finally had somewhere to plop our bottoms, I think we all five enjoyed the evening. I, of course, am looking forward to the next time the circus comes to town because I want all my days to be circus days!