I talked a good game last week about hitting the crowds at Athfest and taking in Hedwig over the weekend, but come Friday night, I lined up with every other good American lumpenprole and nervously bit my fingers waiting for the new Harry Potter. Well, let me be more accurate; I waited in three lines. The first two stores I visited [both outposts of Borders] had booked their entire inventories for sale, so I had to drive up Peachtree into the heart of Buckhead to find a spare copy at the Barnes & Noble.
How crazy was it? From what I could tell [I couldn't see much, thanks to my putting on those darling fake glasses], the store had divided customers up according to at least nine color codes. I got through the line at about 12:30, but the crowd behind me snaked all the way through the main aisle of the store and down to the children's section, near the restrooms.
I spent yesterday on the road in south Georgia for a funeral, but managed to get about 200 pages into the book by last night. Given that J. K. Rowling wrote the story out to a length that rivals War and Peace, I have plenty of reading ahead of me. But who needs a social life?
Posted by Greg Greene at June 23, 2003 10:37 PM
Ok,
Some folks, like me, ordered a copy on Amazon and waited patiently til the mail came on Saturday the 21st to get my copy -- no line, now missing better things to do....
It's amazing how technology can work sometimes!
Posted by: jim at June 24, 2003 12:45 PM
Jim:
Yeah, but you missed the vicarious goofiness of plunking yourself into the middle of a sociological phenomenon. You're talking to someone who went to the theatre after work one night in 1999 (when I still practiced law) to take in the view of Chicago's geeks sprawled out on the sidewalk to see Phantom Menace. I didn't even have tickets. I was just there for the fun. Given the Darth Maul look-alike contest I lucked into, I have to say they didn't disappoint.
Try getting that on Amazon. =,
Posted by: Greg Greene at June 24, 2003 04:24 PM
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