Dear Mobile Ticket,
Sorry, but you are so missing the point. Our beloved ticket stub wasn’t just the key to unlock our entrance into that movie, play, game, show, concert, or special event. No, it was something more. It was a memento – a souvenir of our experience. Something we could hold onto forever, long after the lights went down, long after the final whistle blew.
It’s not that the t-shirts, CDs, and other merch are too expensive – because, yeah, they fucking are – but that’s not the point. The point is, no matter how flashy, how dated, or how overpriced those items are, they’ll never say “I was there” like a torn ticket stub. A free ticket stub. It’s the most authentic proof of being present. But it’s more than just proof – it’s a trophy, an award, a testament to an experience. And if you managed to get it signed by the artist or player? Now we’re talking. There’s nothing in that arena, that stadium, that venue, that could be worth more. And, once again, it was free.
Later on, when you’re cleaning the house, moving, or downsizing – because let’s be real, we all do it at some point – you’ll probably get rid of a lot of t-shirts. You’ll shed the media, since you’ve digitized it all anyway. The other stuff, the knick-knacks that once had their charm but now just take up space, they’ll go too. But those ticket stubs? Those tiny, fragile pieces of paper that represent moments in history you were a part of? They’re light, small, easy to keep. They’ll stay with you. They’ll live in a drawer, in a box, in your wallet – because they’re the map of your life, the stamp of why you are the way you are today. They’re your collection of experiences – and every ticket stub is a dot on that map.
“Mobile” tickets? They just take up space on your phone. You’ll forget about them, and the next time you open your digital wallet, you’ll delete them. Just sayin’.
Rest in peace, Ticket Stub. We will forever keep an open space on our corkboard in your memory.
In loving memory,
~ The Radical Left
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What’s the most memorable ticket stub you’ve ever kept? Drop it in the comments and tell us about the experience.