Something in the night 

You can call me a lapsed Bruce Springsteen fan. Just as a lapsed Catholic still identifies as Catholic but has stopped practicing, I kept my interest (which ebbed and flowed over the years) in Bruce’s newest records and tours but hadn’t seen him perform since the three times we caught him in 18 months between 1977 and 1978. 

Suddenly this summer, something inside told me it was time to go back.

Life felt like it was closing in a little too much. There were some family issues, work-related worries and, on the other end of the spectrum, a nest of hardy yellowjackets that kept making uninvited drop-ins inside our house. I can't intellectualize why, it was more of a feeling that attending a Springsteen show would be an uplifting, maybe inspirational, way to break the cycle. And the irony wasn't lost that Bruce's concerts at MetLife Stadium were during Labor Day weekend, providing an upbeat, hopeful finale for a summer that didn't deserve it.  

Throwing away all our previous apprehensions about attending concerts at a football stadium, we bought tickets and started planning with all the precision of a military campaign – a dry run to the stadium two weeks before to scout out exits and parking; a careful study of the available food vendors; and me, not being used to their seemingly ephemeral nature, ensuring every single day leading up to the show that our mobile tickets were safe on my phone. 

If we could, we’d have built a miniature layout of the highways and the stadium, moving a model of my car around the map with a long stick like when World War II movies show military commanders tracking troop efforts back in headquarters. 

We gave ourselves four hours to get to the stadium, go through the mobile ticket check-in – I was positive that I’d be the person who couldn’t find their tickets on the phone and got pulled off to the side for special treatment – and find our seats. 

We made it with hours to spare. 

Most of those issues mentioned earlier seem to be working themselves out, and the yellowjackets are finally finished. 

The show? Awesome. I feel much better now.