Terminating the Symphony!

My mother and I had a lot of fun when we were housemates.  We tried to see all of the nominated movies before the Oscars.  Carriage Place Movies was the place to go on Tuesdays because the price was right.  I think it was as low as fifty cents at the Tuesday matinees.   But there were times that Maxine wanted to dress up and see Broadway musicals at the Ohio or Palace Theatres.  Maxine was in her element when she could don a new outfit and go to the theatre.


Maxine All Dressed up at Bluff Park

One of our neighbors was going out of town and offered her symphony tickets to Maxine.  Mother was thrilled. The concert was a month away. She spent days planning her apparel.  (This happened whenever there was a special occasion or attending some event.)  Many times this meant trips to the mall to buy shoes, a purse, or whatever she needed to coordinate her outfit. 

I glanced at the tickets and saw that this symphony was at Vet's Memorial.  That would be easy, but it seemed strange to have it there.  I filed the information in my brain, put the tickets in a safe place and wrote the date on the calendar.  The following weeks were filled with Maxine figuring out which butterfly necklace she should wear...or maybe a butterfly brooch.  What shoes go well with this outfit...but maybe she should just go buy some...no, maybe a new outfit would be best.  If she wore this dress, then what coat would be best?  It would be March...so she must be prepared for any type of weather.  She must find a new purse...the ones she has are all old.

This was the scenario that I lived whenever there was an event...wedding, funeral, party, theatre, or even going to visit relatives.  Maxine loved clothes and she loved dressing up.  She finally found the proper attire for our concert date and when the day came we both looked quite nice...dressed for a lovely evening at the concert.

Maxine modeling one of the suits she made.

When we arrived at Vet's Memorial there was a huge back up of traffic.  Wow...this must be a popular concert.  I had not paid any attention to the tickets as I thought it was going to be a normal evening at the symphony.  Something did not feel quite right.  We finally parked and headed for the entrance.  Greeting us in the lobby were numerous scantly clothed men and women.  A huge poster of Arnold Schwarzenegger was smiling at us.

Picture from Mamamia

 The music was deafening...a mix of disco, drums, country, pop.....definitely not classical.  This gives you an idea of the music and scene that assaulted us. Arnold Sports Festival 2006.

The light bulb in my head finally lit.  We were at the wrong venue.  This was the Arnold Classic...for body builders.  We were a bit overdressed compared to the contestants in their bikinis and speedos. 

"We are in the wrong place, Mother," I said, checking the tickets.  I took a closer look...Mershon Auditorium.  How could I have done that!  Mershon Auditorium is on The Ohio State University campus.  I had been there many times.

I took mother by the arm and we maneuvered through the crowd , out the door and back to our car.  There was no time to get to Mershon in time for the symphony.  We were so disappointed.  We looked at each other and burst into laughter.  How silly we must have looked!  Well, now, what to do?  We were dressed up for an evening on the town.

"Hmmmmm.....a hot fudge sundae sounds good," said Maxine.

So, that explains why mother and daughter were seen at a Frisch's Big Boy, dressed in their finest, eating hot fudge sundaes....giggling at their latest adventure.