ANDRE BEGIN

The moment was finally here!

Our first venture outside of our area code in over three years, and our return to one of my favorite cities in the world, Montreal.

The special occasion was our first concert since the pandemic and our chance to see the amazing performer P!nk.

After three years of intense precautions and now getting used to this different state of “normal”, we were ready for time off for good behaviour.

Managing and mitigating risks to protect our inner circle had become second nature. Continuing in that practice but now in a more relaxed fashion, extended to our choice of strategically located seats, with no one behind us or beside us on the right.

Yet surprisingly, my greatest source of fear and anxiety had nothing to do with aerosols and viruses.

It was my first experience using virtual tickets.

I had never done this before.

More often than not, my partner was the one who purchased concert tickets for us, but due to an unavoidable commitment, I needed to step up to the plate on the day the tickets were released.

But virtual tickets?

To me, a physical, printed ticket brought me certainty and peace of mind. An intangible one residing in a cloud somewhere that no one seems able to point to or describe in layperson’s terms stirred up trust issues.

This feeling echoed from surviving decades of unexpected power failures, system outages, data loss, and most recently, reward apps logging me out as I am about to use them and not having my stupidly “strong password“ with me to log back in again.

Don’t get me wrong, I love technology… when it works as it should.

But it’s the history of situations with some other apps that had me fearing worst case scenarios.

Even though my partner never had an issue with virtual tickets, which should have been all of the reassurance I needed, it still took getting used to.

As the concert date approached, I kept checking my account…repeatedly. Fortunately, the tickets were there.

I kept checking my virtual wallet… The tickets were there.

As we were preparing our overnight bags for our stay in Montreal, needless to say, my returns to the wallet and the app became increasingly frequent, bordering on obsessive.

Of course, once I mentioned my apprehension to my partner, he realized that this was a button he could playfully push from time to time. Every now and then, he would ask, “Have you got the tickets?” which would make me chuckle at my own uneasiness over the situation.

Checking for the tickets became the running gag between us throughout our journey. My anxiety was nowhere near panic attack territory, so even I could enjoy the humour of the situation.

Just the same, before leaving the house for Montreal, I checked the tickets again.

On the arrival to the hotel, I checked the tickets again.

During dinner, I checked the tickets again.

And just as we were leaving the hotel before going to the Bell Centre, I checked the tickets again.

Yeah, no trust issues here.

When we arrived at the venue and stood in line for our turn to get checked in, I turned on my app just to have it ready. I was overjoyed to see the tickets still there.

When the tickets scanned successfully as we were cleared to enter, I let out the longest sigh of relief that I am certain could be heard and felt back home.

We then found our seats and prepared for an evening of great entertainment from a powerhouse performer.

You would think that after three decades of using office computers and my own personal technology for my writing with almost always positive results, I would be more trusting. Why is it that the few times that things didn’t go well tend to linger in my subconscious?

I believe that those moments of maximum inconvenience at the least opportune moment left stress in their wake and possibly a few scars. (“Where’s the memo? It’s due in ten minutes!”… “Sorry, my PC locked me out to perform an urgent software update!”)

Plus, after 40 years of attending concerts using paper or cardboard tickets, the switch to something that’s not tactile or physical in nature is a huge leap of faith.

It’s about learning to trust things that used to be within my own control and that I could manage well, that really aren’t within my control anymore.

It’s about letting go.

Either way, I am convinced that with practice and continued successful experiences with virtual tickets, it will just be a question of time for me to trust that technology will get us through the gate and enjoying the show.

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Sincere thanks for reading!
Have a great day,
André