Picture this: You've put money aside each week for a ticket to go see your favorite band when they're in town this weekend. You're pumped. This has been your favorite band for as long as you can remember and you're finally getting to see them.

If you're anything like me, you're in line hours in advance. I can tell you horror stories of spending nights out in the middle of a blizzard to get tickets to see my favorite band and nearly dying of hypothermia and then months later when it's actually time to see the show, nearly dying of a heatstroke because the heat index is 120 degrees and I spent eleven hours in line and got sun poisoning.

Going to shows has always been a big part of my life. I spent most of my high school years cutting class and getting in line hours in advance to see a band I liked. I've spent the last eleven years of my life going to shows and I've been to good shows, bad shows, crappy venues, beautiful venues, outdoor shows, indoor shows and every kind of show you can possible think of: I've been there. After the hundreds of shows I've been to in my life, I have one question that has never been answered...

Why am I paying so much for a drink?

I absolutely understand overcharging a bit for a beer - I don't mind paying $8 for a nice cold can of Bud during intermission. I don't mind at all because I don't go to shows to get trashed because one, I'm not trying to ruin the night of everyone around me by being a sloppy mess and two, I definitely cannot afford it. As a bartender, I know a can of (domestic) beer is usually $2.75 and a bottle is $3.25. Those are affordable prices. And as a concert-goer I know that the same beer I served the night before down the street at the bar, is selling for TRIPLE and sometimes QUADRUPLE the price at the venue.

And you know what? I understand that. The venue needs to make money. The venue needs to pay for the band, the clean-up after the show, the security working, the food vendors, the bartenders, general maintenance of the venue and the bills that come along with owning a property. So yes, that's a lot of money that needs to be dispersed and one of the quickest and easiest ways to make that money is by overcharging for alcohol.

But you know what I don't understand?

Overcharging for water.

Up until September 22nd, 2016 the most I have ever paid for water at a concert was $5, which in my eyes was absolutely ridiculous already. September 22nd, 2016 my boyfriend took me on a date to see Morrissey at The Tower Theatre in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. I was having an amazing time, singing my heart out to the songs I grew up singing along to with my parents. It was a 22 song set and about half-way through my throat dried out from screaming "I love you Moz" at the top of my lungs. So we went to get drinks.

It was a theatre, I expected prices to be a little higher than what either of us would like to pay. But my jaw dropped when he came back to our seats and told me how much he had just paid for a CUP of water for me and a cup of iced tea for him.

$10 for a cup of water. This woman serving us poured a bottle of water into a red solo cup (she didn't even give us the whole bottle of water - there was still some at the bottom of the bottle). For ten dollars, I could have gotten four 24 packs on sale at Shop-Rite.

Charging $10 for a cup of water at a concert is one of the most absurd things that I have ever come across in my entire life. As I mentioned before, I understand overcharging because of the amount of money it takes to keep a venue running but TEN dollars for not even a full bottle of water? It should be against the law.

I was so angry. And I still am. It is criminal to charge that much for someone to keep themselves hydrated in a crowd of people. There are so many health risks you can run into when going to a concert. Crowds get rowdy, people get hurt all the time. Shows last for hours at a time and to have to pay $10 to keep yourself hydrated and healthy is absolutely criminal.

So what happens to the kid that can't afford to spend $10 for a cup of water? We aren't allowed to bring in outside beverages so what happens to the kid that waited all day in line for this show and ends up passing out half-way through the opening bands set because he couldn't afford a cup of water? He loses not only the time he spent waiting in line, but the money he spent on the ticket (don't even get me started on the fees that come along with purchasing tickets online), and he doesn't even get to see his favorite band because something he can get for free outside of the venue - we are being charged $10 for.

Water should always be made affordable to everyone, if not free. It is a necessary part of being alive and it is not something that should be taken advantage of. Venues need to stop taking advantage of concert-goers and make water affordable. Overcharging for beer: absolutely understandable; you don't need alcohol at a concert but you DO need water to stay safe in that kind of environment.

Venues are risking the safety of children and adults going to their location and it's horrible.

STOP CHARGING RIDICULOUS PRICES FOR WATER. IT SHOULD BE ILLEGAL.