Random != Fair

Or, if you prefer, Random <> Fair. Select your notation of choice.

Anyone who knows me (or, in fact, anyone who has investigated my Adventures tag) will know that I went to London in April despite the fact that the training course I was supposed to be on got cancelled. Well, it's now been rescheduled for late June so my attempt to book an unrealistic number of things to do in London has begun once again.

For years I've been wanting to go to the Globe but I keep ending up in London during the winter. This time's different so I've booked a ticket to Henry V (see previous ramblings about Henry V). And I've even rented a cushion, which seemed the sensible thing to do.

Excited as I am about going to the Globe, that's just one night out of a whole week so I've been watching the BBC ticket unit like a hawk in the hopes that something might come up. When the Now Show appeared a few weeks back I jumped on the chance for tickets. Unfortunately, it's a random draw for tickets and it's pretty clear now - two weeks after the draw - that I don't have a ticket.

Now this isn't going to be a massive whinging rant. I've seen the Now Show twice before (2002/3ish) so I can't complain too much. I also know that a straight first-come-first-served on tickets isn't fair because something like The Now Show is going to sell out in no time. But I also know that if I lived in London, I'd be putting in for every single ticket opportunity that came up.

Okay, so a "This is the first chance I've had to see a radio show in ten years, please give me preference" check box might be a bit too much to hope for. But a random draw gives everyone the same chance at getting tickets, regardless of the chance they have to actually attend a show.

I don't have a solution to this. I'm not suggesting that a first-come-first-served process would be better. I just wish that I was seeing the Now Show.