Thursday, May 1, 2008

Worth the wait?

Regardless of where you live, you've probably seen this story sometime on some local news station: a big rock act is coming to town and tickets just went on sale. Or maybe it's Christmas time, and big box chains have just received shipments of whatever overpriced toy is the hot item for the year. Or maybe a famous author just churned out a new installment in an overhyped series.

Whatever the event or product, it's not really the point of the story. The story is about the poor saps who camped out the night before or else simply lined up at ungodly early hours. It's going to be an amazing concert, and I can't wait--I just want to get the best seats. We've been here since last night, but it'll be worth it. Totally. I laughed at those shmucks. What on earth could be worth standing in line for hours for, let alone one hour? From my throne of superiority, I looked down upon them with derision.

Turns out I just never found a cause worth my conviction. Until tonight. I stood my ground for... ice cream. Hey, for 31 cents per scoop, wouldn't you?

The line sprawled a good four shops down, and like most lines, it was a scraggly, sprawling affair--were the people actually lined one by one, the line would probably have extended to the next block. They were a rowdy bunch, too--couples with their pooches, parents with kids who were getting antsy with impatience, groups of med students (the only people I've ever heard discussing gonnorhea and syphilis in public), and assorted people standing around texting or talking on their phones (one girl had even brought her handheld Nintendo). Luckily, there were two public safety vehicles keeping an eye on things, as well as the cops who circled around. I understand their reasoning; after all, people might've engaged in fisticuffs if the shop ran out of chocolate ice cream, and there was that shooting at the intersection two weeks ago or so...

I'm pretty sure ice cream wasn't involved in that incident.

But ice cream, especially inexpensive ice cream, is totally worth the sacrifice of chancing personal safety and dignity and an hour to obtain. I get the conviction now.

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Now playing: Muse - Thoughts of a Dying Atheist
via FoxyTunes

2 comments:

Simple Blog Writer said...

So what flavor did you get?

I stood in line once only. It was to see Savion Glover dance at an art exhibit. Totally, totally worth it.

Overeducated Twit said...

I would normally get a scoop of Jamocha (coffee) and one of chocolate, but I got daring--one Jamocha and a Jamocha Almond Something-or-Other. What can I say, I'm a creature of habit.