July 11, 2008
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Stepped over to the dark side
So I did something today that I never thought I would do again. I woke up in the wee-morning hours today, got myself cleaned up and dressed. Trekked my way up to Cambridge and proceeded to sit in line as I waited for 2 hours before the official AT&T store opened.
The last time I did something this crazy was 2 years ago during the tax free weekend when I tried in vain to get a $100 laptop at Microcenter. That was not a fun morning! My best friend & I stood in line around 2am in the morning; waited 4 hours in line; and then told by store management that they only had 10 laptops and the rest of us can get vouchers for their “HDTVs”
After that event, I told myself that I will not do something that crazy ever again…but then again, there are a few good differences between then and now.So I got to the CSG by around 540am and saw no one at the entrance. For a moment I seriously thought I was the first person in line, even though I thought I saw 6 people at the same entrance when I drove passed, trying to find a parking space. Either case, 10 minutes later, a married couple with their baby walk up to the entrance, pulled the handle and walked right in! Why didn’t I try opening the door?!?!
Not too bad though, I was the 11th person in line. Apparently a few people did sleep outside the CSG last night. A group of 3 college age individuals, complete with their blankets and teddy bears were the first ones in the line. Thankfully the CSG has a closing time and forces everyone to leave the building at night. This avoided the long traffic lines that other stores like the ones on Boylston Street have been seeing.
So I plopped myself down and proceeded to wait for the next 2 hours before the store opened. I thought it was going to be a boring experience, but it turned out to be pleasant. I got to finish some reading for my SG, and I struck up a nice conversation with the couple that walked in ahead of me and another dude named Ken who was right behind me. Overall, it’s nice to make connection with pleasant strangers as we all were waiting and hoping that the store wouldn’t run out of stock by our turn.
A few highlights of that morning:
- The couple in front brought along their 7-month old. Turned out the mom had to leave for work(shocking eh?) so the AT&T people told them that even if they had a baby, the baby can get the phone!
- The store only had one color, both sizes.
- A friend from Mosaic went out of her way to plan her jogging route to CSG in order to help me out!
- The store opened 5 minutes before the official time…<ssshhh>
- The store sold out by 830am…10 minutes after I got to the counter.
- Before it opened, the line at the AT&T store had grown all the way to the halfway mark of the Cheesecake factory.
- By the time I left, the AT&T line hadn’t shrunk and the other bigger store in the CSG had a line that went all the way to the entrance doors on the other side!
I told my manager that I might come to work today a little late. When she asked why & I answered, her immediate response was, “Oh gosh, you’re stepping over to the dark side aren’t you?“ Yes, I guess I have, which I can only say: Power…unlimited POWER!!!
