McCORMICK PLACE — A Michigan man who traveled to Chicago twice in three days to get into Barack Obama’s farewell speech and found himself ticket-less just as it was about to start found a way to get in Tuesday night.
Jeff Palmer drove to Chicago on Saturday and waited in line for four hours to get a ticket and then gave it to his goddaughter when he got home to Kalamazoo, Mich.
He then took the train five hours back to Chicago on Tuesday ticket-less to escort his goddaughter, who left him holding a cardboard sign looking for a ticket as the event was about to start.
At the time, he wasn’t too hopeful about getting a ticket.
“That’s OK, it was fun to be here,” Palmer said. “I’m sure there’s a bar somewhere with a TV.”
But shortly after that, Palmer got in through a strange act of charity.
“A guy wearing a big staff credential and lanyard came up to me where I was standing by the escalator and motioned for me to follow him,” Palmer said. “He led me behind a huge pillar just across the way.”
Palmer said he was taken back by the unidentified event staffer deeper into McCormick Place.
“I thought maybe he was going to tell me to put away my sign or he’d escort me out,” Palmer said. “Instead, he reached into a pocket, pulled out a stack of tickets, handed me one and said, ‘Have a great time.’”
He said he was able to get into the hall in time to see Obama speak and did, in fact, have a great time.
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