If you've ever organized anything - a luncheon, a party, a theatrical production, a hockey game, whatever - in Humboldt, you'll have come across a phenomenon I like to call "Last-minute Humboldt."
People around here don't like to buy tickets to anything until absolutely the last minute.
No one organizing anything has any idea ahead of time if their event is going to be a disaster or a smashing success.
Case in point: A few years ago, a luncheon was being organized to benefit, I believe, breast cancer research. A few days before, about 30 tickets had been sold. Organizers were terrified they were not going to make any money. Then the day of the luncheon, they had well over 100 people there.
Last-minute Humboldt strikes again.
I don't know why it's this way here. It's not in other small towns in the area. People buy tickets to stuff way ahead of the event, to make sure they're not left out if it sells out.
Maybe it's because our venues are bigger here, but for some reason, people in Humboldt don't seem to worry about missing something if they wait until the day before to buy their tickets. The person or people who do worry are those who are putting something on, because they don't know how many people are going to show up.
That makes caterers want to pull out their hair.
It's not a seasonal thing. It doesn't matter if it's winter or summer, bad weather or good, people don't like to commit themselves to events more than a couple of days ahead of time.
I'm guilty of it. Humboldt, it seems, has rubbed off on me. Unless I know I am going to be covering something, I don't commit to actually going until a few days before. Likely because my friends, who for the most part were born and raised here, won't. (Yes, I'm blaming them:)).
This is one cultural phenomenon that I can't figure out. I don't think it's because people feel entitled, that tickets have to be waiting for them when they decide to come, simply because of who they are. There simply are not that many egomaniacs out there.
And I don't think they're afraid of commitment - there are, after all, a lot of married people out there.
So I don't know why it happens. I only know that it does.
And I'm raising this issue in this space so that more people become aware of it, which is the first step towards change.
To all you last-minute Humboldtonians: It's not just you who puts off buying tickets. If it was, it wouldn't be a problem. But it's a cultural pattern in Humboldt. That means a lot of people are doing it. And so it is causing a big problem.
I am proposing an experiment this spring: I want everyone to buy a ticket to an event they would like to attend as soon as tickets go on sale. It could be anything - a playoff hockey game (the Broncos would love to see you at the rink), a play, a banquet, a fundraiser of any kind. But buy your ticket early, and commit to going. Then go.
Maybe we can reverse this cultural phenomenon, and save some of the organizers a few grey hairs.
