November 17, 2021. Madison, Mississippi. The French Open.

Today I spoke to my friend Lahn, a good friend who I first met playing tennis at the Aspen Hill Tennis Club. One of the things we spoke about was their trip to attend The French Open, obviously a few years ago just before Covid. Her husband Mark spotted tickets on the internet so he bought them, even though they were expensive. They organized their flights and a place to stay and off they went, tickets in hand. Trouble started when they went into the stadium. Everyone was asked for identification when they turned in their ticket. Then they were both asked to come with an official into an office. They were there for 30 minutes. Immediately they were told that they had done nothing wrong. But the person to sold them the tickets broke the law. The officials wanted to know everything about how they obtained the tickets from the first internet offer to getting the tickets. Evidently, at the French Open, the only way a person can obtain tickets is from the official site of The French Open. No one was allowed to resell their tickets. My immediate question is who made that policy? It seems ridiculous. What is the matter with making a little extra money, especially if you are unable to attend? Lahn and Mark enjoyed their French Open experience but they did not enjoy their 30 minute interrogation. Although they were told repeatedly that they had done nothing wrong, the whole tone was uncomfortable and they did not like it. But most importantly, they were missing 30 minutes of the tennis match. Now that was not fair.