COLUMN: Freezing for N’Sync tickets
Since you’re all going to laugh at me anyway, I figure it’s best to get it over and done with as soon as possible.
Friday night I joined about 200 others in line for Olympic concert tickets that were to be given out for free by Hallmark. The only thing different between me and everyone else was that I waited in the blistering cold for N’sync tickets. Yes you heard me right, N’sync.
I’ll just wait until you are done laughing to tell you what it was like.
Are you done yet?
Well, now that you have finished laughing at me, I can tell you what it was like.
Fortunately for me, I had some friends saving my place in line until I could get there. From 9 p.m. until 10 a.m. the next morning, I sat in my sleeping bag and only got up to either use the restroom or to go inside an open store to get warm.
I guess I should tell you exactly how I survived the night without getting frostbite. My first layer consisted of socks (obviously) and a wetsuit (bet you didn’t see that one coming). For those of you who are wondering what in the world I was doing with a wetsuit, all I can say is if it’s good enough to keep me warm in cold water then it is good enough to keep me warm on a sidewalk (and you would be surprised at how well it works).
Then there were three more layers of pants, two more layers of socks, two more layers of hooded sweatshirts, a polar fleece and snow boots. Of course I had to accessorize myself with a hat and a fleece ear band to go over my nose and mouth (which incidentally were the only part of me that were freezing). Finally to top it all off, I cocooned myself in a sub-zero sleeping bag.
It started out well, until the coffee I had earlier in the night required me to use the “facilities.” Then getting out of the four layers and wetsuit became a real inconvenience, but in the long run it was worth it.
Later into the evening, we all became tired of telling all of the passerbyers what was really going on, so we (all of the street dwellers and I) decided it would be more fun just to tell them we were saving the rain forest, destroying the rain forest, waiting for the new Pokémon Valentine’s Day cards or the new kiss kiss bears (with magnets in their mouths). I don’t think they appreciated the joke as much as we did.
Although harassing the people as they passed by was fun, being harassed by the people passing by wasn’t as much. In fact, if you were one of those who had nothing better to do than to drive by us at four in the morning, honking your horn, then you really need to realize you are not witty or clever and definitely not original, and none of us like you anymore. I’ll even bet those of you who did that are also the ones responsible for sending Norwegian hate mail (see The Utah Statesman Jan. 25). Shame on you.
The night went fairly well. There were barrel fires, kerosene heaters and even a TV/VCR playing movies all night long. And if that wasn’t good enough, the good people of the Out to Lunch restaurant were kind enough to let us in to warm up and even gave us cookies and hot drinks. I love you. You are my favorite people right now.
Obviously, there has to be something to do in order to pass the time. What could it possibly be? How about playing MASH, cards, spin the icicle or you could just sit there and try to sleep in sub-zero temperatures (yeah right, like that’ll happen).
I finally fell asleep at about 6:40 until 7:35 a.m. The hour of sleep was much needed after being awake for 22 hours, and it was well-received. Then again, maybe sitting in line for 13 hours waiting for N’sync tickets isn’t for you (not everyone can get tickets to the best Olympic concert, but I can).
The night was long and cold, the morning was even longer and even colder, but in the end it all paid off, and I got my concert tickets for N’sync. You laugh now but be assured, when I am setting out my groove thing at the concert you will be wishing you had tickets to the best concert at the Olympics.
So don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t wait in line in the blistering cold to save the rain forest, kill the rain forest, get the new Valentine’s Day cards or get the new kiss kiss bears. Once you get whatever you are waiting for, it is totally worth it.
Robert McKenzie is a freshman majoring in Journalism and Theater. Comments can be sent to Robbruceactor@aol.com