4pm Friday - On my way home from campus, stop at Wal-Mart to see if the line has begun to form and find out details about the Wii release. Wal-Mart Employee tells me that we will be OUTSIDE for the wait. I tell him that I was told by a manager the day before that we would be inside (which was true). I then talk to management, and they tell me we will be inside. I tell him I'll be back every few hours to check and see if a line is forming. They confirm that 30 units will be sold
10pm Friday - Before AJK and I go out Friday night, we load the car up. Two blankets, homework, iPods, PSPs, folding chairs, etc. We decide we'll check and see if the line is forming. If it is, we figure we will go grab dinner and then come get in line. If its not, we will come back on our way home at the end of the night and check it out again. No line formed yet. I ask the manager where we will be, and again I'm told we will be inside.
3:30 am Saturday - AJK and I got some dinner, played a few hours of pool and drank out west, and decided its probably time to get in line. We head back to Wal-Mart and talk to a very nice manger, Seth. He has the unfortunate duty of telling me that "an order came down from corporate," and they will have to keep us outside. He walks out to the lawn and garden section to show us where we have to stay. Its about 31 degrees outside, and no one is in line. AJK and I talk it over, and decide we should go home and get a few hours of sleep and try to get back up here about 7. I get the number to the electronics section so I can call them before I get up and check.
6:00 am Saturday - I wake up, call Wal-Mart to see if the line is formed. They tell me that it is not. I go back to sleep.
7:30 am Saturday - Wake up, realize we are late, and jump out of bed. "Aaron, get up!" I yell down the stairs. We gather our shit up, check the weather (a balmy 32 degrees) and head out the door. Two long sleeved t-shirts, jeans, thick socks, my Northface Fleece zipped inside my Northface shell. I'm ready to stay warm.
7:50 am Saturday - We get to Wal-mart, and we cannot find the line. We ask the manager, they point us to Lawn and Garden. We get there to find about a dozen people there. They have started "the list" and I am number 13, AJK is number 14. We're on the list. We're set. We're going to get a Wii if we can stick it out until midnight. T minus 16 hours, 10 minutes.
8:00 am Saturday - So, the way "the list" will work is a beautiful thing. We've got an unofficial list forming, with thirty spots on it. As people show up, they can join the list. Once your on the list, you have to stay. This is the nice part though, because there is a list, we don't have to actually "LINE UP" and instead we are able to mill around, get comfortable, play cards, etc. Also, as long as people don't mind, you can leave for a few minutes. I realized about this time that I didn't have my space law reading (which I had to spend the next 12 hours working on) and I get permission to run home. While gone, I call AJK and ask if anyone wants McDonald's breakfast. I get an order for an half-dozen sausage and biscuits, and a pancake breakfast. I grab stuff at home, set the Iron Bowl to DVR, grab some food and get back to Wal-Mart. T minus 16 hours.
9:00 am Saturday - AJK needs to check his IP assignment. He decides to run back to my place and use his computer. I ask him to get the little white TV while he is there, and I go inside to buy "rabbit ears". For those of you who are too young to remember, those are the little metal things that sit on top of the TV and allow you to pick up the FREE broadcast television channels. CBS is all I care about. I get to work on Space Law, people around us are discussing a "cook out". T minus 15 hours.
10:30 am Saturday - AJK is back, the TV is running, and I've already given up on homework in order to play "Rook" with a few of the people in line. I meet a guy named Mike Pool. Mike's son started an internet business about a year ago (the kid is in HS) and so the family camps out for all the major debut's in order to sell them on eBay. Yes, he's one of those. Although despite that he was really a great guy. They managed to get 5 Xbox360s last year, and 6 PS3s two days prior. They have 5 of them in line for Wii at different Wal-Marts in East TN. Rook is a good game, its like a weird version of Spades, but not as good as Euchre. T minus 13 hours, 30 minutes.
11:45 am Saturday - The list is full. Number 30 got in line about 11:30. Also, the cook out is on. One of the guys who
thinks he is the leader of our group has gone and gotten permission from management to set up a charcoal grill out front. We're all throwing in $3 for burgers and hot dogs. This was also our first experience with Wal-Mart management's totally disfunctional style. They come out to the Lawn and Garden section to tell us we have to move. Where you might ask? THE FRONT OF THE STORE. No, not inside. The sidewalk in front of the store, between the two enterances. Here we are, in an enclosed area (fenced in) out of the way of all the store business, comfortable and safe, and they decide they want to move us. Why? I ask the manager. The Lawn and Garden center closes at 6pm. I look at my cell phone to check the time. "That is in more than 6 hours. You're telling me we need to move now?" The manager doesn't appreciate my good point. Actually, I think the Manager didn't appreciate my tone. Needless to say, we move. T minus 12 hours, 15 minutes.
12:30 pm Saturday - We're settled back in, the TV is running (as is UT all over Vandy), and the
would be leader is grocery shopping for the group. Things look like they will be okay. Even though we're out front and exposed to everyone we feel pretty secure. The list filled up, and we've only had a few people come up and ask. Once we inform them that the list is full, they generally walk away without issue. We've told them that they are welcome to stick around and if someone leaves, they will be able to get the spot. No one is interested in this. Thats okay wth us. Wii have a Wii already. T minus 11 hours, 30 minutes.
1:30 pm Saturday - Holly brings us Hot Chocolate. I love Holly. T minus 10 hours, 30 minutes.
2:15 pm Saturday - The cookout was great. Burgers were tasty, the hot dogs were...hot dogs, and the spirits are high. One guy bailed on line, but he was quickly replaced by a Southern Baptist minister who is 26 years old wearing a nintendo power T-shirt. Could be the first SB Minister I've ever really liked hanging out with. Wal-Mart continues to harass us. The CART BOY just yelled at us for the grill. We told him that we had permission and he could take it up wtih management. He did. They he came back out and appologized. Lindsey stops by to hang out too. T minus 9 hours, 55 minutes.
3:30 pm Saturday - After two solid hours of Space Law reading, its time for Alabama v. Auburn
AND Ohio St. v. Michigan. I've put my work away. I've zipped up my jacket, pulled on a blanket, and I'm 5 feet from the TV. I'm ready for football. I fell like a NORTHERNER! Mike Pool has volunteered to buy a remote for the TV so we can flip back and forth. Its dangerous to be at Wal-mart all day, because anytime you say "Man, I wish I had (blank)" you can just walk inside and buy it. Case and point? I just bought a second pair of socks. T minus 8 hours, 30 minutes.
3:55 pm Saturday - There must be a shift change, because the manager comes out and tells us that we CANNOT have the grill out there, and that we must get rid of it as soon as possible. We get her blessing to put it in the back of the pickup truck. Thats right. They won't let us leave the grill on the concrete, surrounded by concrete, but placing it in the back of a truck directly above a 20 gallon resevior of gasoline in front of the store is acceptable. Crazy huh? Thats Wal-Mart for you! T minus 8 hours, 5 minutes.
4:15 pm Saturday - I had to go inside and buy some of those "hand warmers" except i've put them between the two pairs of socks in my shoes. It sncie and toasty. T minus 8 hours, 45 minutes. Every once in a while someone from Wal-mart comes out and tells us to move 10 feet this way, or 5 feet that way. They claim its because we're in front of the "fire doors" but I think they're just fucking with us. T minus 7 hours, 45 minutes.
5:30 pm Saturday - The sun is starting to set. Its getting colder. I wasn't sure that was possible. Even though we're so close to getting the Wii, it feels like an eternity. T minus 6 hours, 30 minutes.
6:30 pm Saturday - Alabama lost to Auburn. Fuck Auburn. I hate Tuberville and his thumb. This might cost Shula his job. I hope not. On the lighter side, spirts are high at Wal-Mart as we have begun an hourly "Roll Call" led by yours truly. Somehow I became the defacto leader and spokesman of the group. I think it has a lot to do with the other clown who was trying to take control getting OWNED by management on the grill issue. I'll happily accept the responsibility. It gives me something to do. From this point forward I will be calling Roll every hour at the top of the hour until we feel it is necessary to line up. We dont know when that will be. If people show up and start claiming they are in line we will have to get in order. Until then we will continue to mill around as we please. A lot of people have moved inside to play "Guitar Hero" on PS2. Weak. T minus 5 hours, 30 minutes.
7:00 pm Saturday - We had a scare. A woman showed up claiming she wanted a Wii. We explained that 30 of us were here, and 30 Wii's were available, and that she'd have to go elsewhere. Then she started to count the number of us out there. She got to 27 and ran out of people. She then insisted that there were only 27 of us, and she was now number 28. We told her the other three were in the bathroom, and that she should leave before all 30 of us get involved. We've all agreed to protect each other here, and we're not about to be bullied around by a soccer mom. Roll Call commences, and all 30 are accounted for. T minus 5 hours.
7:30 pm Saturday - The good people of Wal-Mart move us into the vision center since it is closed. I am teaching three of my fellow Wii'ers how to play Euchre (the best card game on earth). Its going well. USC v. Cal is on so people are having a good time. Two of the guys in line had a friend bring their TV and their gamecube with Smash Brothers on it, so a big group has gathered in the back to play video games. T minus 4 hours, 30 minutes.
9:00 pm Saturday - Holly is amazing. She made Funfetti cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and sprinkles. We're instantly heros in line, as many people want a cupcake, but only a few get one. I've just been told by Mike that I'm the "Jack Shepard" of this little family. That was the kindest thing anyone has ever said to me. Playing cards, watching football and its warm inside. Life has gotten better. T minus 3 hours.
10:00 pm Saturday - Manager comes to me with a list of all the accecories (games, controllers, etc.) that they will have on sell with the Wii, as well as a count of how many of each there are. A crisis arrises, as there are only 24 Zelda, and 30 of us. We quickly do a count, and find that EXACTLY 6 of us Do Not want Zelda. SCORE! There are other shortages though. only 19 extra controllers, 14 copies of Madden, 4 classic controllers, etc. We have a meeting, I call roll, and we decided that the only fair way to do this is to let everyone go in the same order they are for the Wii, first come first serve. This suits everyone well. Crisis averted. T minus 2 hours.
10:15 pm Saturday - I sneak off to the back to pre-purchase a copy of Madden. Just in case. T minus 1 hour, 45 minutes.
10:45 pm Saturday - The natives are getting restless. They said at 11 they would line us up, give us tickets and set us free for an hour before pickup. We do a roll call, and I put everyone in line. This is where we get into trouble. Some family shows up at 10:50 thinking they can just jump in and get a Wii. They are number 31. I count the line, call the roll, then explain this to them. The mother, in front of her 11 year old son says "You god damned hardcore gamers, you always ruin these things for the rest of us." Needless to say, she was boo'ed from the building. T minus 1 hour, 15 minutes.
11:00 pm Saturday - The tickets are distributed and now the wait is in its final stages. We have 1 hour to kill...T minus 1 hour.
11:15 pm Saturday - AJK, Mike Pool and I go to Taco Bell with our hour. Mike buys us dinner because we're "poor college students" and he's just a hell of a guy. It was really cool of him. We eat our dinner in the car in the back of Wal-Mart. They have devised this system "for our saftey". We are to park in the back of the store, and they open the fire door into the Layaway dept. At 12 they will let us in in two rows of 15 to purchase our system. T minus 45 minutes.
11:30 pm Saturday - People are getting really antsy. We've stared a game of 5-on-5 Football in the parking lot. I'm running pretty good routes, caught three good balls, and was having a good time, until I cramped up from having just eaten taco bell. Ouch. T minues 30 minutes.
11:55 pm Saturday - They think it will be 1-15 in one line, 16-30 in the other. They don't know that we have an agreement in place regarding some of the low quantity items, and we are not going to obide by this. T minus 5 minutes.
12:00 am Sunday - Wii is on sale! The lines are in place, and ready to go. Crisis strikes again. AJK and I are in the left line. They move ALL the lay-away people to our line. Layaway takes a LONG time to process each purchase. The other line is moving at a 4-to-1 rate. I'm livid. I start spouting obscenity. I tell everyone that this is unacceptable, and violates the nature of our agreement. We'd played nice all day, and now this!?!? If I don't get Zelda and a Wii-mote, I'm going to break a nose. I told the woman working there this. She doesn't like me, needless to say. Mike Pool gets the first Wii. We get the "money shot" but only a few people in line got the joke. Gross.
12:20 am Sunday - AJK and I emerge victories. We have in our possesion: 2 Nintendo Wii's, 2 Extra Wii-motes, 1 copy of Madden '07 and 2 copies of Zelda:Twighlight Princess. We win. Should I say, Wii win!
Summary:
A full review of this AMAZING system is coming in the days that follow, as will pictures of the crazy day at Wal-Mart. Let me assure you, if you're skeptical. Don't buy a PS3...get a Wii, you'll regret the PS3. I'll get into detail later. I hope you've enjoyed reading this. All in all, the people at Wal-Mart were alright. Some of them suck, just like any other aspect of life. We had a good time, and met some cool people. What more can you ask for? Oh yeah! We got a two Wii!
Stay Tuned...
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