Last night we went to see the 35th Anniversary Pee Wee’s Big Adventure tour, hosted by Paul Reubens, at the Moore Theater downtown.

We had a series of bizarre things happen, which is kind of fortunate for the sake of SCIENCE because I can compare what probably would have happened to me sans meds with how things went down yesterday.

Going to stuff downtown is always fun because parking is expensive, but public transportation to and from our neighborhood is pretty shitty outside of commute hours, and wholly shit but parts of downtown Seattle are getting really scary the past couple of years. And you know, if you drive you don’t want to be having a bunch of drinks, or if you’re me, even one drink! But also if you are stressed about about going out, even to something you like, you want to be able to have a couple of drinks.

But anyway, since Adderall seems to help with the anxiety I thought it would also make me not feel like I needed a drink to take the edge off. And that was true!

The first weird thing that happened was the parking. We parked at the Westlake parking garage because it was close to where we wanted to eat and also close to the venue. So we got in there, parked, found that the elevator was broken, found some stairs, found another elevator, and then came out into the mall security desk. Fortunately we decided to ask about how we could get back into the garage after the mall closed. We talked to a security guard who told us that we could just call the phone number posted on where we drove in and he would let us in.

I was very glad we stopped to ask instead of just assuming it would be open. But: the parking saga was not over.

We ate at the Buffalo Wild Wings because The Mighty Sam had a hankering for wings. And the setup there was weird. You order your food at a counter by the door, and then you find a seat, and if you want an alcoholic beverage (Sam did!) you have to go up to the bar, which is way in the back. You get a little vibrate-y device that turns on when your food is ready, and then you pick up your food also by the bar.

We talked about it and figured it was because in this part of downtown they probably had too many people coming in, ordering, and leaving without paying.

There was also a rigmarole about The Mighty Sam getting his beer – he couldn’t figure out where he was supposed to go, and then they started drawing him a tiny beer, and he told the bartender – If it’s going to take this long I want a bigger beer! He got one.

So that took a long time, and it also took a weirdly long time for our food to be ready. I started getting worried that our vibrate-y device was broken. But finally it did go off.

Then when we got to the Moore the line was over a block long. We had reserved tickets so I wasn’t too worried. But without Adderall I think I would have been stressing about it anyway.

we got in, got seated, and The Mighty Sam went to get himself a cocktail, but didn’t get anything for me! He put his drink down and obligingly went to fetch me something nonalcoholic. While he was gone, this really loud annoying drunk guy sat in the seat next to ours and talked loudly to some people sitting in the row behind us. I couldn’t tell if he knew them, or if he was just randomly talking to them. I didn’t really follow what they were saying but it sounded like they were not happy with each other. He was flailing around so much he almost knocked over Sam’s drink, which was sitting on the floor. I picked it up. that did get me feeling really worried and anxious. Fortunately he went away. A nice guy with a Pee Wee Herman doll ended up sitting in that seat. thank goodness.

The Mighty Sam came back and the movie started. Pee Wee’s Big Adventure is so awesome anyway, and it was great to watch it with a theater audience who also loved it. Paul Reubens’s talk was also lovely. He just did it as himself, not as the Pee-Wee character. He’s funny and thoughtful and seems like a really nice person. I did have a few moments where I worried about the parking situation. And after a while I started worrying about how late it was getting. But I think I would have been about six times as anxious about those things without the Adderall.

When we got back to the door by the parking garage, and The Mighty Sam called the phone number posted there, he discovered it was disconnected! So irritating. But the key thing here is that I was irritated only. Because the worst that would happen is that we would have to take a Lyft home, and then come back in the morning to get the car when the mall opened, and pay some extra money for parking fees. But then The Mighty Sam found another number posted by the other side of the parking garage entrance and got hold of the security guy. Who let us in. And then we went home. And it was fine.

I would definitely say that Adderall helped significantly. It did not make me into a normal person. I still had worries and irritations, but they were nowhere near to the extent that they would have been without it. I was able to focus on the show and enjoy it without my mind racing everywhere, and deal with the inconveniences without losing my shit, or coming home totally wiped out.