Sold Out?!

Here was the plan: surprise the kids and take them to see Hotel Transylvania. They had no idea where we were going when we told them to load up into the truck. Tommy whined, as he always does, because he prefers to stay home.

“You’ll like this,” I promised.

“If this is Target, I won’t,” he muttered. It was like a dagger to my heart. Who couldn’t love Target?!

We pulled up at the movie theater and I was like, “Guess what we’re going to see?”

Natalie said, “A movie!” She didn’t seem to care about WHAT movie. She was just eager to see a movie.

“We’re seeing Hotel Transylvania!” I trilled.

“Oh, good. I was worried you had taken us to see Frankenweenie. That just looks weird,” Tommy said.

“It’s in BLACK and WHITE!” Natalie chimed in, horrified. “No color.” She pressed her palm to her lips. She would have not survived the 1950s.

We went inside the theater. It was filled with people. But, no matter, we arrived 30 minutes before the movie was due to start. We were okay. Tom went to stand in line for the tickets. I went to get our food. I got us a medium popcorn, a large soda, water for the kids, and two nachos. Yes, the total made me want to cry a little bit, but it’s a movie theater, land of the six dollar pretzel.

“The movie is sold out,” Tom said, coming up beside me—right as I had ordered everything!

“What? It can’t be. We’re early. We’re in a recession. Nothing should be sold out,” I replied.

“It’s sold out,” Tom repeated, pointing to a white sign under Hotel Transylvania that said CURRENT SHOW SOLD OUT.

“That can’t be!” I said again as the worker slid over all my food.

Tom rubbed his temples. “I’m not going to argue with you. It’s SOLD OUT.”

I shoved the nachos at him and marched over to the ticket area.

“Is the 210 showing REALLY sold out?” I asked the lady. Maybe they meant the show BEFORE that one.

“Yup,” she said, snapping her gum. She was a bored teenager probably thinking, “You shoulda been here an hour ago if you wanted tickets.” (And these tickets weren’t matinee prices either. They were still full price!)

But I didn’t know that! Seriously, we were in a recession. All I kept hearing was how poor people were and how no one has money to do anything because of rising gas prices. Clearly, they were mistaken. I never believe things are as dire as they say because every place I go, it’s BUSY. When we go to Disney World in June, I can almost bet it’ll be packed to the brim.

“Oh well,” Tom said. “It happens.” Nothing really phases Tom. How could be so calm? We had a plan!

“People are supposed to be poor! The only reason why WE can afford to be here is because we sold clothes at Once Upon A Child! Is everyone here rich or living beyong their means?” I hissed.

Tom blinked at me. “I don’t know. The show is sold out so let’s go.”

I refused. I said we’d just have to see the 3D version which started in…well, two hours. But I would not leave. Especially when we had a bunch of movie food.

“You are so stubborn,” Tom groaned, but he agreed to stay. Luckily the movie theater we were at had a diner in it so we sat there and ate our food.

“This is just….annoying,” I grumbled, dumping my SnoCaps into my popcorn. I took a big handful and shoved it in my mouth. Mmm. That was better.

We also ordered cheese fries from the diner because I figured cholesterol no longer counted after the fifth unhealthy thing you’ve consumed for the day.

So we waited. And waited. And waited.

Then we decided to see if the theater was opened. And it was. The movie didn’t start for another hour…and there were already people in there waiting!

The heck?

We got good seats, and I’m glad we got there early because the theater started to fill up. As in, nearly sold out. The only seats open were the ones in the first two rows. And this was a 3D version, which means extra expensive.

How?!

“Maybe all these other people come from money. They might have a family like the one on Downton Abbey. Or maybe their family member wrote a popular song and they share the royalties,” I whispered to Tom.

“Or maybe they have jobs that pay better than the military,” he added.

True. For all Tom does, he’s paid in peanuts, which makes NO sense. Wouldn’t you want the people defending your country to be paid well?

Anyway, for all the waiting we had to do, I was impressed with how patient the kids were. No one even complained. Probably because we kept shoving fatty foods at them.

“Here. Have some Sno Cap popcorn! Want a nacho?”

The movie ended up being funny and the kids loved the 3D aspect of it. I hope they relished in it all because odds are, we won’t be able to afford a 3D version for a long time. Still, it was a good time.

And, before the movie, they showed a preview for an awesome movie called Wreck It Ralph. We are SO going to see it.

Only this time we’ll come an HOUR early so it’s not sold out again.