Post #001 [Before the Books]

Black Friday. The day after Thanksgiving. Day O' Doom for Retail Salespeople. That was my first day at GameStop. I'd been wanting to work at GameStop for years, filling out an application every birthday since I was eleven. Then finally, after some of my friends ended up with a job at a particular location, they were able to push my application through. And after a single interview, I got the job. I nearly regretted it. This was November 2007. The Wii had been launched a year before and they were still in short supply. Essentially, if you didn't already have a Wii, you're weren't getting one in time for Christmas. GameStop responded to this situation by hiring what they termed Holiday Help. This translated into "Chubby Guy Holds Box of Broken Dreams."

"Here," my new boss said, handing me a large white box with Nintendo's Wii logo on one side.

"What's this?"

"A Wii box."

"Is there a Wii in here?"

"Well, no. You're selling reservations."

"Reservations," I mumbled.

"A promise! Go with promise."

"Don't we have any Wiis?"

"Well..no."

"Won't people be disappointed?"

"Well..yes." He scratched his head. "But I need you to let them that we will have them soon!"

"How soon?"

"Um..earliest delivery is scheduled for February."

"I hate you."

I took the box from him and wandered to the front of the small store. Through the front door, I could see the barren gray parking lot. We were opening an hour earlier today. 8am instead of 9. And there were already a few cars sitting out front. 7:35..people began getting out of their cars. More cars began to pull up. By 7:55, we had a long line outside. I glanced back at Jeff, my boss, as he checked some stuff on a piece of paper and one of my friends hit play on the DVD that would haunt my dreams. "Are you sure I had to start today?," I asked. "I'd rather go home."

"Yeah, we all do," he smiled.

==============

"And the Wii has a new form of tech called WiiConnect24 which means that even when it's in standby mode, any new software patches or updates that come through will instantly be downloaded." I watched the customer stroke his formidable beard.

"I see. Does it come with any games?"

"It comes with Wii Sports. A collection of sports mini-games that are essentially a demo for what the WiiMote can do."

"Alright, that all seems good! Set me up with one!"

"Okay, well, if you want to follow me up front to the register, I can ring you up for one Wii and then give you your reservation slip."

"What?" He stopped stroking his beard, and, for the first time, looked me directly in the eye.

"Well, we're not going to have Wiis in time for Christmas so we're taking reservations so that when they do come, those who have their pre-paid reservation slips will be able to come in and get their Wii."

"I suppose that'll be okay. Christmas isn't for another month anyway."

"Oh. Well, it'll be a little after Christmas."

"How much after?"

"Not much.. Two months."

"So what you're saying is is that I pay you for something that won't be here in time for my kids' Christmas presents. You are trying to sell me lies! Lies and deceit! Do you want to sell me some bullshit turkey and cranberries? What are my kids supposed to eat on Christmas?"

"Not a Wii, I'd hope."

"No! But now they can't play with their Wii until Valentines Day."

"True. But isn't that a day for love anyway? You could always get them a couple of gift cards for Christmas Day so that they can get stuff they want for that particular day and you can then let em know that they have a Wii coming."

"I suppose. Can I have that Wii box you're holding?"

"What? This one? No, this is mine."

[To Be Continued..]