So here's my story of going to the opening:
I got there around 5:45, and was trying to find the end of the line -- it went all the way around the block and down 15th St. I eventually bumped into some friends and hung out with them. I couldn't see how much further the line went after that, but it seemed to go on forever. I felt kind of bad for cutting, but the guy behind us saw me walking with crutches and didn't seem to mind -- he said the whole prize thing was random anyway, and it didn't really matter what position you were in.
I had no idea how long the whole thing was going to take, but I was thinking an hour AT MOST. Well... cut to over three hours later, and we're still in line. The wait was so ridiculously long, and the weather so unbelievably cold (stupid me wasn't dressed well enough), that I thought I wasn't going to make it. My legs were aching, and I couldn't feel my feet. My whole body was becoming numb, and I thought I was going to pass out. I was surprised by the amount of media and looky-loos, and the celebs that came (saw Whoopi Goldberg come out at one point, and later Stephen Colbert inside -- plus other people I recognized as celebs, but couldn't name them if I tried). The worst part about the line was I hadn't seen the front of it, where it went past the store again and all the way down 14th, only to snake and twist back up again. I had thought we were so close once we got near the entrance, when someone walking out said we had at least another hour and a half waiting ahead of us (it was more). Of course by that point, you figure "I've been waiting this long already, might as well stay the course." But the longer you stand in the bitter cold, the more and more stupid you feel -- especially when the majority of people are walking out saying all they got was a dumb iPhone poster. Still, I kept hoping that maybe I'd be one of the lucky ones. I really, really needed a new MacBook, but I would have been happy for anything at that point.
I overheard a lot of people on line, who said they weren't even Apple fans. A lot of people were there to see Mary J. Blige perform. Many people said they'd probably never come back to the store again. I kept wondering why they came, and was cursing them for making the line so damn long. At around 9:15, we finally made it inside. There was so much chaos, with people all over the place, and grinning Apple employees cheering people in (god, they must have been so sick of it by that point), and handing us poster tubes and telling us to open the lid to see if we won anything, as it would be mentioned under the lid with a sticker. My two friends opened theirs, and got what I think most people got -- a $10 iTunes gift card. But I was having trouble holding mine and walking (I have crutches), so I was trying to find a spot away from all the people. I finally found a free spot, and struggled to open my lid. Suddenly I hear a pop, and watch as my lid goes flying a few feet away from me. I'm trying to watch where it's going, and all I can see are dozens of feet walking back and forth in front of me. I'm frantically trying to find the lid, and... it's gone. I see a few other lids on the floor, but when I pick them up, they're blank and stickerless. An employee asks if I need help, and I tell him what happened. He helps and looks around, but we never find the lid. I ask him if I can get another tube, and he says he can't do that, but can walk me over to where they're giving iTunes cards and make sure I get one. I say thank you with regret, and then go get my card.
I know the odds are my sticker probably WAS just an iTunes card, but I'll never really know for sure, and that's going to haunt me for some time to come. What annoys me is that someone else obviously saw my lid and stole it from the ground immediately, and walked away with at least yet another gift card, or possibly something more.
My friends wanted to leave almost immediately, but I wanted to see the store -- I figured we waited long enough. But soon I realized how hungry I was, and I needed to go to the bathroom (I was told they didn't have bathrooms there -- at least not yet). So I left, and gave my poster away to someone outside. The line was still as big as ever, wrapping around the block, and I knew some of those poor people wouldn't get in until probably midnight.
All for just an iPhone poster...
