News-Record.com

Act now and you can be the first one on your block to get those coveted Bruce Springsteen tickets for his Greensboro show this spring!

How early will you be? Consider this: The tickets aren't even on sale yet. Heck, the Greensboro coliseum won't even confirm the concert is happening.

But that hasn't stopped the wheels of free enterprise. Stubhub.com, a ticket resale website, currently has 76 tickets available for the April 28 concert for as much as six times the expected list price. That's right, for just $583 each, you can get tickets that, according to Springsteen's official website, don't go on sale until Dec. 7.

How can it be that be, you ask? Is this some Christmas miracle? Or do these tickets even exist?

Don't worry, Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus. But at these prices, he must have a lot of overhead to pay for.

Jennifer, a friendly Stubhub.com operator we spoke to Sunday, checked and assured us that indeed, that two actual tickets for Section 121 row RR can be yours for the equivalent of a mortgage payment. Plus a 10 percent premium to Stubhub. Plus shipping.

Stubhub only acts as a middleman for the deal. People who hold tickets use Stubhub to resell their tickets. Stubhub won't release the name of the seller, since scalpers are generally shy about taking credit for the valuable service they provide.

When we pointed out that the tickets were't on-sale yet, Jennifer explained that this wasn't all that unusual. Often early tickets are released by the promoter, the venue or the band, she said. Andrew Brown, a spokesman for the Coliseum, says the tickets didn't come from them.

While you're pondering this miracle, here's a clip to get you in the mood for the concert. It may be a close as you get:

Of all the signs posted around the area - both permanent and temporary - is there any less noticable and less readable than those little black and white rezoning signs?

You know, the one's stuck on the ground with a little stick? They are the sign equivalent of a whisper, when I think most people wouldn't mind a little shout: "Hey, they are planning on putting a space shuttle assembly plant here. Thought you might like to know!"

Aren't signs meant to attract attention and inform?

Granted, some rezonings can be fairly minor but many others can be "change-your-neighborhood-forever" important. I figure the county could at least post signs as noticable as, say, the yard sale sign my neighbor made out of the box her new TV came in. She does a pretty good job actually, maybe they can hire her.

Even if you notice the signs among all the competition of much larger and colorful signs often nearby, the print on them is so small you have to park your car and walk right up to them to find out what they are about - always a good idea on a busy road.

And even then, good luck deciphering the jargon. They want to do what? Change this from AG to RS-30? Is that a preschool or has Mercedes come out with a new model?

Here's a suggestion: make the signs at least as big as a real estate yard sign, use some plain language, add a little bright color and use lettering big enough to read without binoculars.