So this story starts out in Lubbock, Texas last Saturday afternoon. Mandy and I were up there shopping for mobile homes (don’t judge me, they’re a whole lot cheaper than real houses in Midland right now). We had just finished at the dealer’s lot and decided to check Best Buy to see if they had any Wiis. Now, I’ve been trying, mediocrely, that is, to get my hands on a Wii for about a month. We’ve had parties at the house where a friend will bring over theirs (thanks, Marcus) and had a whole lot of fun. Midland is always sold out, so I figured I’d just try in Lubbock. Turns out they get sold out a lot, too; but they were able to tell me they had just got a shipment in the night before.
I left dejected, sad. It was a disappointment, but I had been prepared for just such an event. We bought beef jerky and decided to head home. It was just as we were getting into Midland that I thought Hey, if Lubbock got some, may be Midland did, too! So we decided to stop by and see if they had any. There were none on the shelves. Not to fear, maybe they had some in the back! After looking frantically to find any team member at or around the game department and coming up with a big fat goose egg I decided to head to customer service to see what the dealio was. The gentleman there was friendly enough. He told me they had nine, but that they couldn’t sell any for some big promotion to be held on the 25th. I was annoyed, I was pretty sure this was illegal and unethical, but I could wake up early that Sunday. No big deal.
Fast forward to Monday. I came to work (where a few friends are also looking to find a Wii) only to find out that one of my coworkers had managed to purchase a Wii the day before! I was irate, belligerent, and really pissed off. Good for coworker; but Best Buy will PAY I said to myself. I went up there during lunch and talked to customer service and a manager stating my frustrations, how this could be construed as discrimination (not sure exactly how yet), and that they were generally being poo-poo heads about the whole deal. Manager told me that they were NOT supposed to have sold any yesterday, and when I told him my buddy purchased one he told me the guy who sold it to him got sent home. Blahblahblah. No Wii. Still waiting until the 25th, grumpily wondering what would happen if I called the Better Business Bureau on their asses.
I thought for sure my chances were failing. I had already set it up with another coworker to head up to Best Buy on the 25th at like 6am. We’d eat at IHOP together if there was no line, separately if there was a line (so we could hold each other’s spots in line). It would be fun, but so far in the future. So many days wasted without my precious Wii. I thought about freezing myself and thawing out in the future, but I had heard that wasn’t the best idea. Some fat kid tried it and witnessed an amazing war or something. Could be fun, but I’ve got fiance and responsibility. Damn responsibility.
Found out yesterday that I was going to have to come in REALLY early this morning to work, so the boss let me head out a few minutes early. It was a B E A UTIFUL day, so I drove around with the top down. I was driving around the loop when I figured I’d check on the state of things Wii related at the Best Buy. Alas! there were none on the shelves, but I knew what this could mean: things are still on par. After wasting another couple minutes to try to find an associate or just any random dude with a blue shirt (where do they hide?) I again trekked to the customer service desk. I asked the lady who helped me if they had any. She said “No, but they might on Sunday.” I said, “Yeah, I’ve been here like 8 times this week; I just want to make sure that the 9 you had in the back are still here and that I won’t be wasting my time on Sunday.” Then, THEN, the gaming supervisor heard my cries for help, and dashed them on the rocks with these words: “We had to sell them all. I don’t have any left.”
Stop.
Did you hear that? That’s the sound of depression. Of a thousand kittens dying. Of the life being sucked from my veins. “You what?” I said feebly, still trying to comprehend this horror. “Yeah, we don’t have a single one in this building. If I had one, it’d be on the floor,” he ejaculated (always wanted to use that in the proper sense). That was IT. I lost control a little, started sputtering on about how I’ve been coming in for over a week. Was told that they’d have them on sale on Sunday, how my buddy’d gotten one after I was told…
“Oh, it’s you! I heard about you, and we set one of ‘em back just for you!” said crazy supervisor. I was floored. “REALLY?” I wanted to scream like a 13 year old girl at a Justin Timberlake concert. “Yeah, let me go find it.” I couldn’t stand still. I’ve had the pee-pee dance in use for a while, but never for this type of excitement.
He came around the corner and the sky parted and the angels sang. I got the Wii, a nun chuck (no wiimote, grr), and a classic controller. I raced home, and didn’t realize how fast I was going until I looked at the clock and had covered about 6 miles in 8 minutes (you realize how fast that is? through town?) After a brief but daring rescue (totally different story, maybe next week?), I had unboxed and successfully set up the Wii for my big screen TV. I spent almost 3 hours playing it and decided to go to bed. I am so sore this morning, and I know it hasn’t even hit yet.
The moral of the story? Best Buy lies.
