I just got back from playing a holiday concert at the Mall of America.  What a waste of time.  Why?  Let me explain.  First, my fellow musicians and I have invested more than 6 hours of our personal time into rehearsals.  Second, most of us made sacrifices to leave work on time in our holiday attire and get to the MOA 30 minutes before showtime.  In an instant, our concert is cut short after 30 minutes because a few fools chose to throw some Tic-Tacs and pennies onto the band from the rotunda levels above us.  Nobody was seriously hurt, but a few people actually ended up with some bruises. 

Our director made it clear in the weeks before that if anything was thrown on us, we would immediately leave.  So we did.  And we're never going back.  I wasn't with Medalist last year, but I guess the same thing happened last year.  Nice job MOA security, and nice job parents.