The determination of Seattle Sony fans was tested on Wednesday. Seattle is known for its rainfall (although it receives less yearly precipitation than most of the U.S.), and massive storms poured down on campers outside local Best Buys and other electronics stores. Many people with enough forethought to bring camping gear, had their new tents destroyed by the 65MPH winds, and had to retreat to their cars. Some even resorted to using heavy sand bags to keep their tents on the ground.
Some of the campers were rudely awakened at 2:00am when the store’s automatic sprinkler system came on. The sidewalk is not wide enough to accommodate a large 2-person tent, so part of their tents overlap the grass… complete with hidden sprinkler heads.
One youth, named Taylor (he didn’t want to use his last name because he was playing hookey from school), had been waiting in line since Tuesday. He was one of the first in line, and had made friends with many of the others. He had started an “unofficial” list of people’s names and their place in line, as fears mounted that others visiting would somehow cut in line.
Some people even brought their entire families. Kiera and Chris (and their 4-year old daughter Madison) had been living out of their compact car since Tuesday. The toddler had the entire back seat to herself, while her parents woke up periodically to turn the car’s heat on. They were living in a tent, but was destroyed by harsh weather. Madison loved all the attention, and didn’t want to leave. Many of the other line-jockies took turns playing with her, and let her play with their Nintendo DSes and shared food with her.The family that stays together, plays together, apparently.
The people who got in line early (most of them started arriving late Monday or mid-Tuesday, received numbered tickets from Best Buy. Best Buy managers were unsure of how many units they would get, or how many of them were premium systems. The Bellevue Best Buy store could only guarantee 26 units, but said they may receive more. There were over 50 people waiting in line, the latter half just hoping there would be enough for everyone.
