Extra Ticket - what to do

I've googled it and still don't know the answer to this question. I thought the kind ladies here would have a nugget of wisdom about what to do... and it is WAAAAY off topic of cycling.

We have tickets to the Nutcracker Ballet every year. Daughter, 11 yo, wanted to invite a friend this year. I sent an email to the mother last week inviting the friend, and she hasn't responded. I sent another email asking if she got the first email. No response. We're getting close (ballet is 9 days away) and if the friend can't come, we're running out of time to invite someone else. Not sure what to do at this point and wanted to get a broader view of what the proper thing to do would be. I can't really "un-invite" her, and I suppose at the end of the day, we just eat the expense of the ticket and the kiddo doesn't get a friend to tag along if I don't get a response? Thoughts?

Perhaps the friend and her parents are out of town for Thanksgiving or the Mother does not check emails much. I know many people who still do not do emails much. I would try to call the parent.

Has your daughter talked to her friend? Since it's really your daughter's invite, have her call the friend to confirm.


Veronica

Yes, great ideas both. I don't have the mother's phone number, so haven't called but my daughter talked to her friend at school and also chatted online with her through the school portal. According to the friend, her mother is "thinking about it". The girls are good friends, but our families are not particularly close... evidenced by the fact that I don't have their phone number. The girls get along and we like them. But if the answer is "no", then we need to know now so we can see if another friend can come along. I guess I don't understand the non-communication, that's all. Not sure what to do at this point. Keep emailing? ETA: The invitation was issued a week ago so out of town for Thanksgiving isn't a reason for not replying. I saw the girl at school yesterday, so I know they were around at least until then.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by velo

Yes, great ideas both. I don't have the mother's phone number, so haven't called but my daughter talked to her friend at school and also chatted online with her through the school portal. According to the friend, her mother is "thinking about it". The girls are good friends, but our families are not particularly close... evidenced by the fact that I don't have their phone number. The girls get along and we like them. But if the answer is "no", then we need to know now so we can see if another friend can come along. I guess I don't understand the non-communication, that's all. Not sure what to do at this point. Keep emailing? ETA: The invitation was issued a week ago so out of town for Thanksgiving isn't a reason for not replying. I saw the girl at school yesterday, so I know they were around at least until then.

---

I often have this problem. I get season tickets to 3 different concert series each year, and am always looking for someone to come along with me. The failure to commit to an event is becoming rampant and people just don't have any idea how rude it is to not respond to an invitation like this.

On the other hand, if you are not already email friends, your initial email could have gone into mother's spam filter, and she may not have ever seen it. Possibly all she knows is her daughter mentioned something but since she doesn't know you she is unsure of letting her daughter go off with you without more details. I'd get the phone number from your daughter, call the mother, introduce myself as Sally's mother and say that I was taking Sally to the ballet to see the Nutcracker, and that Sally would really like for Annie to come along. Tell here where it is, what time you would pick her up, return, and if you'll be taking the kids to lunch/dinner before or after, and that you'll have her home by xxx o'clock. If the reception is cool, I might add that I had emailed the invitation but maybe had the email address wrong since I did not get a response. They may have some other scheduling conflict that they are reluctant to change but I'd give her the chance to say so. If she still seems hesitant I'd add that I would appreciate a commitment one way or the other so that there is time to ask someone else, that I already have the tickets and don't want them to go to waste.

This shows how much technology has changed manners. It seems as if we're phobic about using the phone, or gasp, extending a written invitation in the case of a more formal event.
The other mom is being extremely rude by not responding. Someone has to know that tickets to these types of things cost a lot. We all understand if someone can't attend, but you have to let the person who invited you know this.
I was pissed when my DH sent an e-vite to the people we invited to my birthday party. Perhaps this brands me as old, but I really preferred a phone call or written invitation.

I think you are all right. I need to get the phone number and make a call. Thank you, all. Crankin, I guess I'm old-school, too, and appreciate some level of propriety even in this modern age. Perhaps I should have called instead of emailed in the first place. Something like this wouldn't require written invitation (we do for birthday parties, still... I AM old-school!) but maybe I made a mistake from the beginning to email the invitation. She did get the email... the friend said her mother read it, but is just "thinking about it".