It was the Friday that Leslie James, the manager of the Majestic Theatre in Eureka Creek, had been waiting for all summer: opening day for the Harry Potter And Percy Jackson Meet The Hobbits Of Alderaan, and if the size of the crowd that had turned out for the first showing was any indication of the turnout still to come it looked as if the movie would have little trouble making good on its promise of being the biggest blockbuster of the year.


Leslie was standing there in the lobby, smiling at the patrons who were lining up at the concession stand and mentally dancing to the tune of the cash registers ringing in his head, when he happened to spy one young man who kept walking back and forth between the ticket counter at the front of the building and the ticket taker at the door of the auditorium. 


Leslie watched as the young man would hand his tickets to the teenager at the door, then make a face as he turned and headed back to the counter, bought another ticket and got back in line, only to do it all over again upon reaching the ticket taker the next time. 


This happened three or four more times before Leslie decided he should walk over and ask the fellow why. As the patron sagged his shoulders in exasperation and turned back toward the ticket counter one more time, Leslie rushed over from behind and put a hand on the fellow's shoulder. "Excuse me, sir," he said as the customer turned to face him, "is there a problem I might be able to help you with?"


The frustrated moviegoer nodded. "Boy, I'll say there is," he responded. "You might explain to me how I'm supposed to get in to see the movie without a ticket!"


Leslie's brow furrowed in confusion. "But, sir," he responded, "I've seen you buy several of them now. You only need one to get inside."


"I know," the patron said. "But every time I hand one to that knucklehead over there, he takes the blasted thing and tears it in half!"