Many years ago (in 1981, I think) I was in Lisbon on a Saturday afternoon, taking a break from a conference/workshop along the coast at Estoril. I spotted that The masked ball was on at the opera house, so trotted along and joined the throng milling around. A woman approached me with a spare ticket (in fact she had two) and offered it to me when I said that I was interested in going to the performance. I had no idea if (a) I was about to get ripped off and (b) if resale was allowed, but there was a friendly policeman handy by who witnessed the whole transaction. I paid face value (dirt cheap by UK standards, I seem to recall) and didn't end up in clink. Another (Portuguese) guy bought the other ticket, but moved to a better (previously unoccupied) seat in the interval, after graciously thanking the person who sold him the ticket. A memorable afternoon, and more evidence of 'genuine' people in the world.
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