I took this guy to his first Phish show this summer in Nashville. He did Tn, Ga, Deer Creek, and Columbus. He was from New Orleans and seemed to emphasize on the fact that he's a street kid, only not a kid any more, he's 23. Anyways, we got to the venue in Nashville really late in the show. We split up and I told him to meet us later. I also told him to keep his ears open in the lot because we were looking.

When we got back to the hotel, he pulled out this long line of raffle tickets, you know, the kind they have at fairs and things. He said, "Man, I got a great deal! I got all these backstage passes for just 15 bucks!" Nobody in the crowded room said anything, it was really quiet. We all just sort of ignored his ignorance and went on with the night. I felt really bad, though, because that's not the only thing he wasted his money on! I mean, nothing else was quite as bad as his "backstage passes," but how was I to know that normal people, untrained for the lots, could be scamed so badly?

I laugh now because I think he deserved it. It was like his karma getting the best of him and his money. He proved himself to be not anywhere near a phishy kid, but just some horny punk from the streets of New Orleans. So maybe the kids in the lot weren't just trying to scam another phan, maybe they could spot him a mile away and decided to teach him a few lessons.