Rabulous

I noticed this royal blue tarp hanging over the side of the 23rd and 6th Best Buy in the city since Monday, maybe Tuesday.  I knew there’s been all this buzz this week for the latest PS3 and Wii, but I never realized that these consoles would garner a line this far in advance.

It actually stormed its ass off last night.  The winds were howling and the rain was pouring throughout the night.  Crazy enough, many people, not only in NYC, but across our electronics-obsessed land, waited outside of electronics stores just for a chance at these gaming systems.
Some people set up shop for days with tents, sleeping bags and layers of clothes.  I guess the line at my local Best Buy was kept under control on the city sidewalk with the police barricade and giant blue tarp.  When did this camping on the street thing become socially and culturally acceptable that NYPD is supplying barricades. All this waiting and shelling $500 out for a “flawed” gaming system?

I’m not a gamer and don’t have much interest in it, mainly due to that detrimental phase with barefoot boyfriend from high school. (he deserves a post of his own one day.)  heh.  He used to bring me to the local arcade, in the mall next to our high school, where I’d foolishly peer over his shoulder for hours– as if that was an appropriate teenage date. So, no, gaming is not my gig.

I’m guess I shouldn’t judge so much, considering next Friday morning, I’ll be one of the many crazies braving the cold elements, waiting in line at 3am outside of some big box store, just for some doorbuster barbies, a myriad of needless gadgets and gifts. 

Because the entrance to the PATH is across the street, I pass Best Buy every day on the way home.  My friend and I noticed last night that the PS3 Line got even bigger. 

My friend squawked when I told her  that many of these people had been in line for multiple days for a chance at getting a PS3. 

“would you do this for your child– wait in line for days?  Do they work?  How could they afford to do this?  Who does that?”

I explained to my friend, “many of them are grown men, as in, no kids.  Some are buying them for themselves and others are buying them to make a profit.”
Many of those that waited in line darted home this morning and listing like crazy. Ebay sales are popping up like mad.  Apparently days ago, Ebay had to regulate their selling restrictions, in anticipation of the PS3 sales.  I read somewhere that One system went for $9,000.  wow.I’m not sure if camping outside and waiting in line for 4 days is worth all of that to me.  I like my bed too much.  Now, if there were diamonds and pretty shiny boots for half off in those stores? maybe.
It’s hard to stomach that, not only did hundreds and thousands of people wait many hours for these systems, but in various places, there were shootings and riots. 

This morning, on the way to work, I noticed that the line had decimated, the blue tarp was disposed on the sidewalk, alongside of a week’s worth of Dunkin Donuts cups, potato chip bags and random grossness.

But really, was it worth all that?  The riots, camping out in the rain for days, the shooting?  It’s a bit ironic that people would get that barbaric for the latest advancement in consumer technology–the ever evolving gaming system.  As electronics continue to evolve, but our culture as a whole?  sadly, not so much in this regard.