And they call this a plan?!
So I was, in fact, crazy enough to go to Borders to pick up my copy of Harry Potter last night. I didn't think it was going to be this big a deal. I did pre-order, so I knew that I would have a book reserved for me. But, let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.
When I arrived at Borders at about 11:45, there was already a line outside. That didn't really phase me since the line wasn't that long and it should move fairly quickly. However, I found out when I got to the line that the line was outside the store since the store was already at the maximum allowed by the fire code. I started talking with the people in line in front of me to try to figure out what was going on. Apparently, Borders had decided to hand out tickets to people who came earlier in the day without making this fact widely known. This is in fact different from previous years and confused/angered many of the people in the line.
Now that I've talked about the people in front of me in line, I have to discuss who was behind me in line. I promise the man talked just like Cleveland from Family Guy. At first, I found it a little bit disconcerting. After a little while, I found some enjoyment listening to "Cleveland" and his son Cleveland Jr.
As I moved toward the front of the line, I noticed a man off to the side practicing some type of Karate/Tae Kwon Do/Your favorite martail art here. I found this a little odd. Was he confused and thought that he was at a Star Wars premiere?
Eventually, the line moved forward and I was able to get into the store. There was no indication as to what was going on. There were no signs, no employees providing directions, and no Half-Blood Prince books anywhere in sight. I finally got a ticket that would eventually entitle me to get in line to pick up a copy of the long awaited novel. After waiting to get in that line, and then finally waiting through the line, I was able to get my hand on the sixth installment of Harry's adventure. Only the line for the cashier stood between me and the ride home to get started in earnest.
In any event, I do not understand why Borders did not organize the event better. I did get the book and read quite a bit, but the whole ordeal could have been organized much better.
(My apologies for starting the story and then not totally finishing it. Perhaps I just should have written, "And then I found a dollar." At least Noah would have known that the story was over.)
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