Ronalfy.com — The Personal Website of Ronald Huereca

I woke up around 4:30am to drop a friend off at her car.

I was tired. I was cranky. But I wanted an iPhone.

I headed over to our Apple Store in Huntsville, and began waiting in line.

I was about number thirty, so getting an iPhone was almost assured. It was just a matter of waiting.

And waiting. And even more waiting.

As the store opened at 8am, the employees ran through the crowd, handing out water and high-fives. They were excited.

However, the line was moving at a snail’s pace. Then the line stopped moving.

The manager came out and explained, “We’re having activation issues with ATT. As soon as they are fixed, we’ll allow more people in.”

Luckily the weather was overcast, but eventually around 10am, the sun peeked out.

More water was handed out, and some of the employees started handing out snacks.

I was about number two in line at this point, with the sun directly over me. I laid down on the hot concrete and closed my eyes praying for relief.

“We can take two more.” the lady at the door said.

As I walked into the air-conditioned store, I gave the door lady a huge hug.

While in the store, there was more waiting.

“Feel free to surf the net guy.” one of the employees told me. I was so tired that I couldn’t even stare at a computer.

After about 45 minutes of waiting inside the store, it was finally my turn to get an iPhone. An employee walked me through the application process, and about thirty minutes later my iPhone was activated.

Unfortunately it wasn’t ready for calling yet since the iTunes store was down and the iPhone needed to be registered with Apple.

I finally walked out of the store about 11:45am, about 7 hours after I began waiting in line.

As soon as I made it home, I crashed. And when I woke up, the iTunes store was back up. I then proceeded to import my contacts and make some of my first ever text messages.

I don’t know if I’ll ever wait in line for a phone again, but having the iPhone is a wonderful luxury.

Related posts:

1. iPhone to the Rescue – Part II
2. iPhone to the Rescue – Forever Sharp Knives
3. When a Convenience Store is Anything But Convenient
4. The Joys of Working Retail
5. 500 Words – You’ve Just Lost My Business