How Much Is Your Comfort Worth?

IMG_5297Every year, my fantasy baseball league gets together to attend a St. Louis Cardinals game. We almost always choose a date in May that ends up being really cold. Tonight was that night.

I attend these games for the camaraderie and out of solidarity, but I must admit I’m not there for the baseball. Live baseball is fine, but it just doesn’t get me excited. I don’t even watch baseball highlights.

So when you add to that the element of cold–tonight was 55 degrees, probably colder up in the top row where we were–I started to care more about my comfort than about staying at the game. In no other circumstance would I choose to be outside in that weather.

In the past, I haven’t had much of a choice. At least a few of us would carpool to the game, and most of these guys want to stay until the last out.

This year, however, I drove myself and one of my friends to the game, and I figured he could catch a ride home with someone else. So after shivering my way through 6 innings–including an eventful 6th inning when the Cardinals took the lead with some dramatic home runs–I decided to call it a night.

It felt a little weird, as I’ve literally never done that before, but I got 66% of the value of my $7 ticket. And as soon as the heated seats of my car clicked into high gear, I knew I had made the right choice.

What would you do? Do you stick around until the end of sporting events no matter what, or does your comfort come first?

12 thoughts on “How Much Is Your Comfort Worth?”

  1. Ok…I’ll say it…55 degrees isn’t that cold. In no other circumstance would you choose to be outside? In 55 degrees? You may want to consider moving to Arizona. 🙂

    I think it speaks more to your enjoyment of the activity. I bet if it was something you really enjoyed, a temperature of 55 degrees wouldn’t bother you at all. I also suspect that the price may have something to do with it…$7 isn’t all that much when all is said and done.

    I have season tickets for college football…which tends to be played in considerably colder weather. And I’m pretty die hard about staying until the end. Heck, I stayed until the end of a game played during a hurricane once. But that’s at my alma mater, and I feel more passionate about that than I do any professional sports teams.

    I hope you had a good time catching up with your friends, at least!

    Reply
    • Keith: Okay, that’s fair…there are some circumstances. Like, playing football at Thanksgiving or roasting marshmallows around a bonfire. I think those activities work because they’re inherently about staying warm despite the cold. But I can assure you, I was chilled to the bone sitting in the second-to-last row of Busch Stadium tonight. I even walked around for a bit to stay warm (and got funnel cake), but those were temporary fixes.

      I’m impressed that you stayed through a hurricane!

      Reply
  2. Ooooh! Heated seats! Mr. Fancy Pants! Oh wait, that wasn’t the point of the anecdote, was it… Yeah, I’d totally bail. I also can’t stand baseball and don’t think I’ve ever made it through an entire my game. I used to occasionally go to baseball games as a kid with my father and he would regularly suggest leaving early to beat the crowd out of the stadium/parking lot.

    Reply
    • Ha ha…my car is old too! 2003. But I love those heated seats. And my fancy pants.

      Your father sounds like me–I love the idea of leaving early to beat the crowd.

      Reply
  3. This article sounds eerily similar to one from the past. Won’t you ever learn to dress in layers?! haha Like you I am not a fan of sitting in the cold but over the years I have learned to dress in layers when there is even a slight chance it will get cold. I went to the Redskins playoff game this past January and was almost sweating cause I had on to many layers. Just as Daniel mentioned when I was a kid my dad always made us leave early to beat traffic no matter how the game was going. Since I never liked doing it as a kid I almost always stay until the end now. You picked a great game to go to. At least you stayed to see the most exciting inning. And how about that Waino Homerun…WOW!!!

    Reply
    • Indeed, I had deja vu as I wrote this–I’m pretty sure there’s a “survivor’s tale” on my blog about a very cold day at the ballpark a few years ago. I wore an undershirt, a sweater, and a warm jacket, but it wasn’t close to enough. That said, the three home runs made the game quite exciting. And I can appreciate you staying all the way to the end–you’re a better fan than me. 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply to EricCancel reply

Discover more from jameystegmaier.com

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue Reading