Ticket process broke hearts of many fans

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Oct 04, 2099 Source: Lexington Herald-Leader Submitted By: Annie Ohana Published Sunday, October 3, 1999, in the Herald-Leader By Danielle Johnson Sept. 25 was the day for a lot of things: Backstreet Boys ticket raffle. Screaming fans who got the tickets. Crying fans who didn't get them after waiting in line for hours. Greedy people who cheated to get the tickets by using sources inside the lottery. My two best friends and me, with only two tickets among us, wondering which of us will get to go to the concert. I'm just a normal 14-year-old high school student who last year at Southern Middle School got Brian Littrell's old English book. Back then, it just meant I got a book used by a former student who became a singer. But now it means so much more. The Boys are about so much more than music and money. When the Backstreet Boys first started, I thought they were just another band that did all the drugs and tried to look cool. Once I read the group's thank-you message in its Millennium CD, I knew that the Boys were so much more than I had thought. The thing that really moved me was Brian quoting the Bible. Right then I was hooked. The group had great music, great ethics and, most of all, great values in life, family and religion. Not many bands have that nowadays; they think only about the money they can make. But now that the heartthrob Boys are coming to town, some of their fans' hearts are being broken. My two best friends -- Amanda and Megan -- and I got to Kroger in Hartland about 8:15 a.m. to be a part of the ticket raffle. Luckily, we made the cut with number 446 and got in line with Amanda's mom about 10:30 a.m. After about an hour of waiting, it was our turn to get tickets. We wanted to buy tickets for three seats together. But we could only get two together, and the ticket agent wouldn't sell us a single -- even though the per-person limit was eight tickets. So we had three girls and only two tickets. What were we to do? The woman in front of us bought eight tickets -- for people who weren't there. They didn't want to wait in line like the rest of us, so they had sent one willing person to get all eight tickets. They are the kind of fans who break your heart. If there was any way I could go and see the Backstreet Boys with my two best friends, I would most certainly do it. But there is no way as long as this frenzy lasts. I know the Boys will come back, but will I get into the next concert or the one after that? Will I ever get into one? I will not give up or lose hope. Comment on this item. Next Item: 60 Minutes II: The Idol Maker Prev Item: News from Toronto : A day in the life of a BSB fan-atic...