This coming Sunday may be the biggest day of my life. What I have waited for since age three is finally happening: I am going to see Michael Jackson live.
I have never kept my obsession with the King of Pop secret. As a toddler, I thought I was Michael Jackson. People would ask me, “What’s your name, little girl?” and for a couple of months, I actually would reply, “Michael Jackson.”
Of course, that was back when it was cool to like Michael Jackson. Everyone wanted to perfect the Moonwalk, to wear the red jacket and to sing into the Michael Jackson? microphone. But who fought against parental oppression of their Michael Jackson obsession? Who wore a sock on their hand because their parents wouldn’t buy them a sparkly glove? I’ll tell you who?me.
I wasn’t just a fair-weather Off the Wall to Thriller to Bad fan. I also bought Dangerous, an act that I soon learned was not socially acceptable. I took more hell for listening to Dangerous that I did for listening to Color Me Badd (the self-titled album, not the lesser, later release Young, Gifted and Badd). When HIStory came out, it was the summer before my first year of high school. I was dorkily taking a summer school study skills prep class, and the teacher asked who was planning on buying the album. I energetically raised my hand, expecting that the rest of my class to have some taste and assert that they too were buying the album. I was so wrong. I quickly got the reputation at my new school for being that weird Michael Jackson fan.
I just want to ask those high-school bullies, “What the hell was wrong with you?” Am I the only one that has heard “Don’t stop until you get enough?” Was “Thriller” not the greatest video ever made? Am I talking crazy? Why do I feel like a cult leader trying to convince the rest of the world that I have the answer?
Sure, you could say no one takes him seriously because he looks “creepy” now, or that the single “Blood on the Dance Floor” sucked ass. And I really couldn’t disagree with you. But look past that. Look to the man and the magic.
I’m not saying that I’m going to hold a telethon for the man. He can still sell out concerts, and with a fast enough speed to crush my dreams. I left Georgetown for the summer with a mission: I would obtain a ticket to one of the Michael Jackson concerts (featuring a reunion with his brothers) in New York in September. I had missed an earlier chance, and I had to make up for my mistake. You see, when Michael Jackson was preparing for the Bad World Tour, he decided to do so in my hometown of Pensacola, Fla. His logic for preparing for a World Tour in the completely random location of Pensacola stemmed from the fact that he is Michael Jackson and probably doesn’t function on the same logical plane as the rest of us. The thing is, he didn’t put on a concert in Pensacola, he was just practicing there. In typical MJ style, he only performed for about seven underpriveldged nine-year-olds. And my mistake was not seeking out that location and being there. This time, I knew I had a chance, and I had to take it.
The tickets went on sale at the end of July. I walked into work, and asked permission to try to buy a ticket while I was there, right when they went on sale at 9 o’clock. My boss said it was OK, as long as I went to the staff meeting at 9:30. At 8:55 I could still access the Ticketmaster web site, and I was ready. At 9:01, the web site melted down because of over-use. I still couldn’t get on the web site, and I had to go to the staff meeting. By the time the meeting was over, I got on to the web site, but the only tickets left were $800 and up.
After that, I had given up hope. Last week, when a friend called and told me that MJ was performing for the “United We Stand” benefit concert at RFK Stadium on Oct. 21, I never thought that I would actually have a chance of going. He offered to try to buy me a ticket, and I hesistantly accepted, thinking that he too would have his heart broken, just like I did. However, he called me up to tell me that he scored us two tickets, and I’m sure he was dissapointed with my “uh, thanks” reaction. The thing is, I still can’t believe it. I have waited for so long. I’m going to see Michael Jackson.
