How to Attend the Grey Cup for $4.50
Janet Wees
My friend from BC called me
the day before the Grey Cup in
Calgary and asked if I wanted to
go with her. I laughed because I
didn’t have hundreds of dollars
to go to a game where the
Roughriders weren’t playing.
She said that she’d attended
other Grey Cups cheaply, and
once, for free. She was going to
stay overnight with me and so
she decided she would pay for
my ticket if we could get them
cheaply.
Being skeptical, I dressed for
the game, and took some money
out of my piggy bank. We took
the CTrain, which was already
in a party mood. Once on the
grounds, we went to the box
offi ce; tickets were still $300. We
asked the scalpers; still $200.
The policeman nearby told us to
wait until the game began and the
scalpers’ prices would drastically
come down.
While my friend went off to
fi nd a ticket, I ate the sandwich
I’d brought and watched all the
Saskatchewan Roughrider fans
with their regalia, high-fi ving
each other. I was wearing my
Rider toque and scarf so I got
high-fi ved, which did no good to
my sandwich!
Suddenly I saw my friend
coming toward me with a ticket
around her neck. It was for row 1,
and regularly $400! She got it for
$60 from someone whose friend
was not going to the game after
all. She said now we had to fi nd
someone like that for my ticket. I
was still skeptical.
We tried our luck asking people
if they had extra tickets. Finally
a man said he had one because
a friend couldn’t make it. We
off ered him $80. He said the
ticket was worth $150, but we only
had $80. So he took it and then
turned to me.
“Is this ticket for you?” I said yes.
“Are you willing to climb
sixty-six steps to the top, sit
beside me, and talk to me during
the game?” I said yes, surprised at
his question.
“Well, then!” he said, and
returned the $80 to my friend.
I was shocked. I thanked him
profusely, and he said he just
wanted company to watch
the game.
My friend went to her seat
on the east side near the
Hamilton end zone and I
proceeded to climb the
sixty-six steps on the
west side opposite
the Winnipeg
end zone,
stopping
every
twenty
steps to
breathe.
My benefactor arrived about
thirty minutes later, also stopping
to breathe on the way up. We
watched the game, talked,
laughed, yelled, waved our
scarves, and had a great time. We
both cheered for Winnipeg.
There was no food that high up,
but during intermission I spied a
vendor selling candy. I climbed
down and bought a bag of peanuts
in their shells. Back at the seat, I
shared them with my new friend.
They cost $4.50. ●
In her retirement, Janet Wees
wrote a middle-school novel,
published in April 2018. She still
found time to travel, volunteer,
read, and write letters. She is
now back in schools speaking
to students about her writing
experience, when asked.
news&views SPRING 2020 | 41