The Squeaky Wheel Got Greased!

Sometimes, the man can be beaten. (or is that, "It can be stuck to the man"?) Check it out:

A couple of weeks ago, I went with some friends to see Georgia Tech's football game against Virginia. It was a Thursday night home game, and nationally televised, a combination that always makes for a lot of fun. Tech won big that night, but an otherwise enjoyable evening was marred by one slight nuisance. Because we had a group, we were able to take advantage of "Family Packs," which get you a block of tickets, plus hot dogs and drinks for a reasonable price. So far, so good. Now, the Family Pack also includes a couple of mysterious "premium items" -- mysterious to me, at least, because I had never before gotten to a game early enough to snag one. But for the UVA game, we had time to spare, so my friends and I were on a mission to get the goods.

But what an arduous task it would be! We had to wander around for a bit before finding out where the goods (T-shirts, we soon learned) were being distributed. When we found the Russell Athletics (an official sponsor of Georgia Tech Athletics) display, it was being packed up, and we were informed that there were no more T-shirts -- even though we saw a few unopened boxes of T-shirts being packed up. But we still had 20 minutes before kickoff! Most of our group decided to forego the loot and head on into the stadium. Not willing to admit defeat, my friend Gordon and I walked down the street to the ticket office to demand satisfaction, or at least to get some answers. After all, we had vouchers entitling us to premium items, dang it! I won't belabor all the details, but we definitely made another trip to the Russell display and back to the ticket office. (At one point, a Russell lady informed us that they would be shooting T-shirts into the crowd during the game, so we could try to get one then. Thanks a lot, lady!) After the second visit to the ticket office (the game had already started at this point, mind you), a helpful but exasperated employee took our vouchers and our addresses and said he'd take care of it. A minor victory, but Gordon and I weren't exactly holding our breath on that one, either.

Fast forward to yesterday afternoon. Upon arriving home, I noticed an odd box on the doorstep. I certainly wasn't expecting a package. Then I saw the memo line "GT Family Pack" on the address slip. I rushed to the kitchen and hacked into the box with some scissors. At the top of the box was a handwritten card from Russell, apologizing for the lack of T-shirts at the game. In addition to the two T-shirts I should have gotten at the game, they threw in a couple of Tech ball caps, too. Woo hoo! I later confirmed that Gordon had received an identical package yesterday. Talk about good customer service.

So the moral of the story, kids, is that being persistent and annoying occasionally pays off. And now you know.