End of Year Concert vs Premier League Trophy Lift?

 Life can throw the strangest, most grotesque situations at you especially when you least expect them. 

   A young (11 years old) and high-performing guitar student who looks forward to each end of term student concert as much as humanly possible, just two weeks before the end of year concert last May, with the help of his father tells us in a polite, but nevertheless no-nonsense manner that we should postpone the concert to another date in the calendar as he has important things to do on the day of the concert. This got both me and the guitar teacher very interested, as we naturally assumed that then it has to be a really important event if the boy cannot take part in the concert!

I regretfully (with slight unease) replied that there is no chance to move the concert forward as the date has been set for more than 3 months already, and the prestigious concert hall is fully booked. They were honestly saddened by this news, so I quickly jumped in and asked them what would be happening on the day of the concert, may we know the reason? The boy started crying and me and the guitar teacher felt a rising sense of unease. 

With slight hesitation and concern, the father replied that the boy would like to watch on live TV the trophy presentation to the club winner of the Premier League (football/soccer in England). I would have thought it a joke if I would have seen any hint of a smile or even a smirk on the face of the father. But inside I was laughing and shaking my head in disbelief! 

I politely suggested whether they can videotape/record the trophy presentation and watch it right after the student concert? The boy replied with shaking voice that it is not the same thing, he would like to see it live. I could not contain myself and I started chuckling, but immediately saved face by offering them that I can speak to the director of the hall and ask him if the boy can view TV during the concert. Of course, I was joking. The boy and his father seemed relieved at this suggestion so I started to feel that 'oh-oh' moment of over-promising to the customer... so what do I have to do now? Call the concert hall and demand a tv set and subscription to the Premier League so the boy can watch the 20 minute lifting of the trophy and lap of honour (the boy wasn't even interested in the match itself, only the post-match celebrations).

So what happened in the end? The situation turned out to be an easy one to resolve. We moved the boy as first performer in the concert and told them that they can then go home immediately to watch the trophy lift. Another situation when everyone was happy in the end (although I will obviously never forget this episode...).


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