When Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace released in 1999, we were living out in the boonies of Tooele, Utah. My son was 3 years old and my daughter was just 6 months old. My husband was working long hours and making the long drive to and from work each day. We were a young family making our way in this ultra strange place.

Being huge Star Wars fans, I thought it’d be fun to surprise him with tickets to the movie when the release was announced. I knew it was a long shot but I packed up the kids and drove to the theater where a line had already formed a few hours before the box office opened. It was bright, sunny, and windy and I was already dreading the wait.

I unloaded the kids and got in line behind a huge, tattooed biker dude who side-eyed me when I walked up. After a few minutes, he turned to me and gruffly said:

“Those babies shouldn’t be here.”

His tone made no mistake that he wanted me to go home so I explained that I was trying to get tickets to surprise my husband. He wasn’t having it and, again, said:

“Those babies shouldn’t be here. You go on home and come back in a couple of hours when it opens.”

I looked at the line extending behind me and mentioned that the people behind me might not like that.

He glared at the long line, then back at me and said:

“Ain’t nobody gonna say nothing about it!”

Holy crap! I didn’t doubt it for a second! I went home to feed, play, and rest with the kids. We went back a few minutes before it opened and he was waiting for me. I took him a soda to thank him.

He was right, no one dared say anything.

The tickets sold out within minutes and we didn’t get tickets but the memory of that encounter was worth the experience!