I attended a Semester abroad in Jerusalem, Israel in the Fall of 1993. Upon leaving, I knew very few of the students that were traveling with me. However, by the time we left to come back home, many of them knew me better than I would ever want them to. My nickname became Princess Di, and this is how I earned the name.
After being in Jerusalem for about 2-3 weeks we all heard that Michael Jackson would be performing a concert in Tel Aviv the very next weekend. There were about 10 of us who really wanted to go and paid the price for a ticket and our transportation to get to Tel Aviv. We all shared a taxi, called a Sharut in Israel.
We arrived in plenty of time to get dinner before the concert. One of the most popular places was the American restaurant, Hard Rock Café. Most of my group voted on that and were excited for some American cuisine after 3 weeks of Israeli food. I don’tremember what I ordered I only remember how my food made me feel later!
After eating we went to the outdoor arena where the concert was to be held. We arrived before the gates opened. We were among the very first to run through the gates to the front row of the general admission area. (Among the first of several thousand Israeli’s behind us.) Once into this special area, they roped it off and if you were to leave this area you would not be admitted back.
We were “roped in” 3 hours before the concert even began. We were so packed in we could hardly move. There was so much pushing and shoving and even people who were passing out because of the heat and dehydration. After about an hour of waiting, I began to feel a little sick to my stomach. I began to panick just a little and look around for a bathroom. The only bathroom available was beyond the roped off area and about 100 yards away. I knew if I left to use the bathroom, I would not find my group of friends (that I had just met 3 weeks earlier) again. I decided that if I was distracted enough I would forget about the sick stomach and the need to go to the bathroom would go away.
Not the case! After about another hour, my slightly sick stomach was now twisting and churning. I really was panicked now. The concert was still an hour away from beginning and at least 2 hours of the show. I knew that I would not be able to wait. After a few tears started streaming down my face, I decided to tell my friends my dilemma. It was a group of 8 guys and 1 girl and they had a plan. It was definitely a “boy scout” type of plan and I was not happy about it.
They all formed a circle around me the best they could pushing the local people back a bit to try and give me room. They handed me a CLEAR plastic bag and said “squat!” What? They couldn’t be serious. They were! At this point I had no choice! It was in the bag or in my pants. With tears in my eyes I decided in the bag was a better choice. All this for Michael Jackson? Totally!
When I finished, I was not sure what to do with the bag. My friend told me to hand it to her and she would dispose of it. Not knowing what she would do, she took the bag and threw it as far as she could! To this day, I am wondering who the person is that is telling the story of the time they got hit with a bag of pooh at the Michael Jackson concert in Tel Aviv, Israel!
-Anon
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