SDCC 2009 – A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the ComicCon – A Tragic Comedy – Part 6 of 8

Part VI –The Lady or the Tiger

Recap - In San Diego and now lost

Lost. Unlike the TV series, we didn’t have people writing a script.

We found a convenience store and stopped. Do you know where Dodger Stadium is?  Not the nicest part of town.  And we were lost. So we drove through streets that made the ‘not nice’ places look friendly.

We stopped.  I was dubious. We entered the run down convenience store. Of course I’m unsettled so I scanned the store as I stepped in.  I looked for another exit.  I saw the cashier behind very thick glass and bars. Yeah, it’s that kind of place; a place that gets robbed regularly.

The cashier stared us down.  I nodded.  I smiled. I thought happy thoughts: rainbows, puppies, ComicCon. The types of things to help plaster a fake smile on my face. I wanted to look friendly and innocuous.  I was just a tad more than nervous.  Another person was in the store. He sat on a stool.  He had stopped talking when we came in.  So I guess he more or less belonged there too.

Ess is Hispanic. I’m Wonder Bread white. I let Ess ask for directions.  It was all Spanish.  I caught the drift. We were close. After the second ‘Gire a la derecha’ (right turn) I was lost.  I let Ess worry about the directions. I muttered Gracias as we left.

I moaned again as I got in the car.  Yes, the car was still there and still small.  We buckled in and we talked briefly how fun that was.  Ess explained the rest of the directions to me. He started the car and then the guy that sat on the stool popped out and started speaking quickly to Ess.

I smiled and waved as he left. Crap. I know what that meant. He had ‘better’ directions.

We sat in silence for a moment. Who to believe?  Were the first set of directions bad? Were the second set of directions a set up? Paranoid?  Maybe.  We both thought it though.  Two guys lost in the wrong part of town would not be missed.  We choose option C and remained lost. We didn’t really follow either set of directions.

We found Dodger Stadium and their World Famous Dodger Dogs about an hour into the game.  We parked a mile away.  Not really but close.  The view of downtown LA was beautiful. Smog creates colorful sunsets.

We trekked to the Will Call office.  It was closed. We were told the only open ticket office was at the top of the stadium.  Dodger Stadium was but into a hill.  It’s beautiful to behold.  Still, after a long day of adventures and hours scrammed into a car, I wasn’t happy.

We saw the stairs and parking lots cut into the side of the hill/stadium. We climbed the stairs.  We climbed some more. We reached the top of the hill and the stadium and the Will Call window was closed.  Really?  After a long day we have a closed Will Call window?

I was not to be denied.  I asked the attendant at the turnstile how to get my tickets.  He just nodded and lets us in.  Inside, I saw the other side of the Will Call window and I got me tickets. Very odd but ‘whatever’. Read that with a Valley Girl accent.

We found our seats and even though we are an 1 ½ hours late for the start of the game, it’s only the 3^rd inning.  Whatever.  We sat and relaxed and watched the game and the crowd.  Jon Levitz sang at the 7^th inning stretch.

That’s when I went exploring.  I love walking through ballparks. I love seeing how they're all the same and how they're all different.  I walked and explored.  For decades I’ve been hearing how great Dodger Dogs were.   I had to get one.  So I found a stand that served them.  

First look at them did not impress me.  It looked like a Slim Jim in a bun.  I bought 2 because they were small. Yes, I remember eating a lot of pizza only a few hours ago but I’m at a ball park and you HAVE to have a hot dog...or two.  It’s like going to a movie and NOT eating popcorn. You are breaking a law or something.

So I bit into it. Well, I must say looks were not deceiving.  It tasted like a Slim Jim in a bun.  Mustard didn’t improve the experience.  People crave these things.  I’ve heard stories how people refuse to go to other ball parks because they don’t have Dodger Dogs.  Wow, I can only say people will eat anything if they don’t know better. It was a major disappointment.

The next item on my agenda was buying Dodger Dollars. I read about these. They were currency to be used on Dodgers’ souvenirs.  I thought it might be a neat gift for Ess (who was a Dodgers fan) and for a couple of other close friends that loved the Dodgers. Lots of places do something similar. Disney had pretty ones of different denominations. Six Flags does this too.

After asking a few people where to get them, I find the right spot. I ask for three $5 Dodger Dollars.  I didn’t get three $5 bills. What I got was three coupons for $5 printed on ticket master ticket stock. They didn’t even have a Dodger logo on them.  Frustrating and disappointing.  Now I know better.

After the game we find the car and leave. But even before we are out of the stadium we were lost again. My directions had us enter at another gate. We are leaving from another side of the stadium and getting on an unknown road.

Needless to say, after a couple of more hours of being lost we found our hotel and checked in.  It wasn’t hard to fall asleep that night.

To be continued...

AH