Atlanta ticket karma, ten years ago tonight

[ChicoHarris]

10 years ago tonight, the Springsteen/E Street Band reunion tour came to an end for me in Atlanta.
I had noticed that people on the front row behind the stage seemed to have an excellent seat, so I thought that for Atlanta, I would get a ticket for the first night and, once in, figure out what section I wanted to be in for the next night's show and try to scalp a ticket close to where I wanted to be.
That night I decided on the section and seat I wanted for the next night's show: the front row seat on aisle right.
The next night, I had an 8x10 sign in a glassed picture frame: "NEED ONE SUNDAY TICKET and a ride back to Mississippi". It also had the picture of Bruce from inside the Born To Run record jacket.
I walked around outside Phillips Arena for awhile and soon someone offered me a 10th row seat in the section next to the one I wanted. I figured that would be as close as I'd get to the seat I desired, so I gave dude face value for it.
I still needed a ride back to Mississippi, so I continued to walk around with my sign. Directly, a guy walked up and said he had a ticket for sale, behind the stage, front row. I looked at it. It was right next to the very seat I had picked out the night before of the 20,000+ in the arena.
I bought it at face value and not long after sold my first ticket to a grandmotherly lady from Alabama.

It was a great, great seat and I was reminded that God is a Springsteen fan.
The guy I bought the ticket from was in the seat next to me, the one I wanted. His name was Nicky and in conversation we figured out his sister was living across the hall from a friend of mine in Manhattan. Over two years later, I'm on the Rising tour and run into Nicky in a bar after the Houston show.

The Springsteen-on-tour life can be that way, you know.