Whoa, I do the same thing but flip through a dictionary and grab two words blind!

Man, watching a potter center clay taught me the same thing about feeling the wheel.

Not sure the permit was the real problem here. Tons of dead malls hand that $35 to a third party website that has zero connection to the actual building, so of course the door guy and the guard had no clue what your printout was. The laminated badge is the tell, they sell you a souvenir and call it access. Sounds like you still got the shots though, so the Dillard's tip is the actual useful part of this post.