Catering for Dylan

One of my sisters has been a huge Dylan fan her whole life. One time we were both visiting our other sister in Atlanta - I think it was 1989. Dylan was playing the Fox theater which is a decent place for concerts. Tickets had been sold out for months. My sister had no money, but decided to try her luck and went to the show set on seeing Dylan.

Now you're probably asking yourself how on earth could she get into a sold-out Dylan concert with no money? Well, it's amazing what can be accomplished when people replace the fear of failure with shear determination. So my sister arrives at the theater and starts circling the building. Sure enough there's a catering truck loading stuff through a side door. Security and catering staff are all around. My sister sees some aprons stacked next to the truck. She takes one, puts it on, then grabs a tray of food from inside the truck. She walks into the Fox theater through the side door and past security. Once inside, she leaves her tray and apron and finds a seat in the first few rows, center stage.

No one ever shows up to claim her seat. She sees Dylan upfront and close in what she said was one of the best shows in her life. Later, I asked what her favorite Dylan song was. As is usual with true fans, she looked irritated and said that was really tough to answer; but if forced to pick, she says she always related most to Tangle Up in Blue.

I love this story. We still laugh about it today, especially when we hear that Dylan is playing somewhere. It also serves as a great reminder that determination can sure get you far.