A Tale of Two Bobbleheads
About a month ago, I was looking forward to going to a Jays game and picking up a J.P. Arencibia bobblehead. The morning of the ballgame, my drainage tube fell out and all the happy plans for that day were ruined. Instead of soaking up the sunshine inside an open-roofed Skydome, watching the Jays play ball, and eating hot dogs and ice cream bars with Jayee, I spent the day in Mount Sinai Hospital’s emergency room. It would turn out to be day one of a three-day hospital stay. I wrote about the frustration and dejection of missing out on something I had really been looking forward to.
The day after I posted that blog, I received a message from a high school friend of mine named Sara. She and her husband had attended the Jays game that Jayee and I missed, and were among the first 20,000 fans to receive that coveted J.P. Arencibia bobblehead. Since they had two in the house, Sara offered to give one of their bobbleheads to me. A reply riddled with thank yous and a few scheduling conflicts later, Sara dropped the bobblehead, still in its original packaging, off at my home. I’ll never get the experience of attending that Jays game against the Minnesota Twins, but J.P.’s noddin’ noggin’ reminds me of my caring friends who are at the ready to do something wonderful to cheer me up. Thank you, Sara.
I was going to give the bobblehead to Jayee, because I wanted her to have it, and because I have one more bobblehead in my collection than she does. Before I did though, I sent an email to the Toronto Blue Jays inquiring about the possibility of receiving some sort of store credit for my expensive, unused tickets:
Hello,
A while back, I purchased two tickets to the Blue Jays vs. Minnesota Twins game on July 7th. On the morning of the game, I was taken to hospital as a result of complications from a surgery I had in May. The tickets, of course, went unused. Is there any way that I could be refunded for the tickets or receive a "store credit" of sorts towards future tickets? I know it’s likely that I’m just out of luck here, but I thought at least I could ask. I was really disappointed that I missed out on J.P. Arencibia's bobblehead! Many thanks for your time.
Sincerely,
Rasheed Clarke
An awesome member of the club’s “Guest Experience Team” contacted me the next day:
Good morning Rasheed,
Thank you for contacting Rogers Centre – Home of the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club.
I am sorry you were not able to attend the game on July 7 and hope that you are recovering and feeling better from the surgery you recently had. We are not able to provide an exchanges or refund for single game purchases. I can send to you a JP Arencibia bobblehead that was the giveaway that day. Could you kindly provide me with a mailing address and I will arrange to have one sent to you.
Kindest regards,
Lisa Anne
Holy bejebus! What a kind gesture. This has been a truly horrendous season for the Blue Jays, especially considering all the off-season player acquisitions that were supposed to make the team a contender. With October baseball at the Skydome looking less likely each day, I’m comforted by the fact that there are some great people working for the club, people who genuinely care about the fans. Thank you, Lisa Anne.
Thanks to a friend and a stranger, Jayee and I both have the bobbleheads we damn well deserved. Next Sunday, the Jays are giving away their last bobblehead of the season, that of third baseman Brett Lawrie. I’d very much like to complete my 2013 collection, and Jayee and I plan on attending the game against the Oakland A’s. I just hope I can survive the next week without some new goddamned complication. I don’t want to receive the last bobblehead of the season out of sympathy. I want to earn it.A hot dog would be good too.
UPDATE: A few hours after this post went live, a relative of mine dropped off a present at my house. Two presents, actually. Inside a red gift bag, I found two J.P. Arencibia bobbleheads. Call it a bobblehead hat trick. Thank you, Roxiane.
