How did I spend part of Thanksgiving 2017?

Standing in a line at Destiny USA, part of a pre-Black Friday sales pitch.

The folks at Syracuse University’s athletic department got into the action by announcing that a batch of season tickets would be part of the big bargain. Men’s basketball season tickets would go for $100. Regularly, even for the least expensive seats, they sell for $500 each because the Orange plays so many games in the Carrier Dome. Also part of the jamboree at the university’s kiosk would be women’s basketball season tickets for just $25, and football game finale tickets for $5.

This brought out a couple hundred people to Syracuse’s mega entertainment, dining and shopping complex before the announced on-sale time of 8 p.m.

My dear wife Karen and I had discussed out plan at length.

I was there to buy one cheap ticket for the Saturday football game. I already had asked George Three to join me with our second season ticket because Karen was scheduled to work a shift at the library, and the game start time was 12:20 p.m. And then my fantastic daughter Elisabeth texted me and said she’d like to go, too.

Five bucks was the route to take.

Would I want those inexpensive basketball tickets, though? No, I said during the afternoon, after we’d shared out meal of turkey breast and fixings. Too many games compared to football. Too hard to walk up the hill during winter weather. I was not a fan of basketball in the dome because the seats are far from the court and the game is more intimate than football. I like it better on TV while football I appreciate more in person.

Decided. Nope.

And then I started talking to the folks in line around me.

Otto the Orange showed up to whip up the fervor.

Karen got back from shopping and asked how I was doing during my wait.

About those basketball tickets, I said.

You spent the afternoon telling me why you didn’t want them!

But the deal! The excitement!!

It’s hard to get to the games on a work night.

Yeah. One five-buck ticket for the Boston College game it will be.

The decision was cemented when the young seller got there and started the process. For my turn at the counter, he handed me a card with the SU athletic department site and a special code on it. The actual buying process would have to be done by the buyer, online.

The people in front of me In line were peering at their phones, hurriedly punching in information, holding their credit cards, hoping that they’d get their share of the 500 men’s basketball bargain ticket total. Yeah, there was no limit to how many an individual could purchase. That code could easily be sent to friends not standing in line.

Good luck, I said to the folks waiting in the line behind me.

I texted the information to Elisabeth, and she got the ticket on her phone, familiar with that sort of thing. I handed her a $5 bill at the game.