Making Sweden 5% nerdier than it has to be.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

It's probably for the experience

I'm not sure why I do it.

It's always cold and hard and the reactions I, and everybody else get, vary from being looked down on to almost threatened.

Three times I've done and only twice was it worth it, mostly because the third time was just a favor but still.

It's at this time that I dramatically reveal what I'm talking about. The subject of this post is... queuing.

I'm talking about the kind of queuing where you stand/sleep on the street for days while waiting for the chance to get to buy something that you've been waiting for for a long time. I'd imagine that the phenomenon is mostly associated with forming long lines for concert tickets. But in all honesty that's been ruined by everybody buying them online the second they come out. But there's loads of other stuff that you can que for. The three times I've mentioned are as follows.

#1: Waiting in a line for days on end to buy tickets to Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.
Conditions: Me and my friend Hassanbot had to be in that line for like 2 - 3 days. We where under a bridge where the sound of cars and motorbikes going under it echoed loudly every day. We where also very close to a nightclub whose regular visitors very often mocked us (we were even called whores by on of them). And top it all off some of the guys in the que had found sort of hidden stairwell and started using that as a place to pee. It did not smell nice to walk by it. At least I had a friend with me and the people I met where all very nice.
Results: Actually worth it since the expereince of buying the tickets while a dude dressed as Darth Vader directed a small orchestra was pretty awesome. And the experience of watching the thing on opening night with so many hardcore fans totally overshadowed the fact that the movie wasn't all that good.

#2: Sat down in line for when they would sell Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows.
Conditions: I came alone with a fold-out chair and sat there for about a day. I knew some of the other people in the line so it wasn't very lonely. There also weren't any loud or stinking annoyances and the people walking by where a lot more friendly towards us. It did get cold at some point abut luckily my sister came over with my jacket at that point. There was also a festive mood and it felt safe enough for me to leave my stuff a few times and go buy fastfood to eat.
Results: Totally worth it! This experinece was much more enjoyable and the book kicked so much ass. The only downside was that the shop didn't handle the release with the same amount of spectacle as in the previous example. But still, a fun experience.

#3: Held a place in line for Hassanbot so that he could get to Halo 3 quickly.
Conditions: Nothing special really. Me and Sharkazzz stood there along with lots of other guys just holding a place for Hassanbot who showed up eventually. It was sort of cold.
Results: Not worth it. In the end the que was relatively short and as far as I could tell it didn't matter when you came. Pretty much everybody got a copy of the game as long as they had their pre-order slip with them. And if there was any spectacle there I missed it.

Why do I bring this up you may ask. Well, I'm gonna go for my fourth que this Tuesday when God of War 3 gets released. I'm well aware that I can just come in one day later with my pre-order slip and buy the game then so I won't have to stand there and sort of freeze in these cold post-winter but pre-spring days. But I'm gonna do it anyway. It's an experience and I'll rest slightly easier knowing that I'll get my hands on the game fast enough.

Though I wonder if the most stupid thing that seems to befall all ques will show up this time as well. In all three example I mentioned above some random dude would at one point run past and shout how the main character Anakin Skywalker/Harry Potter/Master Chief would die. That's just so stupid and pointless that I'm not gonna talk about it anymore.

Wish me luck on Tuesday.

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