Yesterday...I Was One Of "The Waiting"

I had time to kill yesterday morning...

Apparently, I was not the only one.

I became a member of what I call, "The Waiting."

If you're wondering what "The Waiting" is, I see it this way. The Waiting are any group of people waiting outside an establishment until the doors of that establishment open. There used to be many Waiting groups on Black Friday when the only real way of scoring great deals was to go to the store, joint The Waiting, then rush in and grab the good stuff before others have a chance to get theirs.

Groups of The Waiting have dwindled in recent years. I don't usually need to be at businesses before they open anymore, so I haven't seen a lot of The Waiting groups. There is one place, however, that The Waiting seems to show up everyday...

Thrift stores.

Or, a certain chain of thrift stores found in the Intermountain West. They're called Deseret Industries, or D.I. for short. They're run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and, as thrift stores go, they're pretty good. They're clean (for the most part...) and have a good selection (for the most part...). Because they're successful, they seem to get all the excellent donations. 

After all, donations are key to a successful thrift store--part of the reason, anyway. 

Because the stores are clean and well-stocked, it attracts both the collector and those a little short on cash. Yesterday I pulled up to the store about ten minutes early. A few members of The Waiting were already doing their part. As the seconds ticked down, more and more people parked and got out of their cars. I watched The Waiting grow in numbers. 

Soon, I joined them. 

Soon after that, we were The Waiting no more.

Lines...

I don't think there are many who like waiting in lines. Unfortunately, it's one of the realities of modern life, especially as more and more and more people call this world their home. Modern technology can help with some of the lines we've stood in for years. For example, you can go to Stamps.com. I don't use the service myself, but from their ads, they guarantee eliminating waiting in lines at the post office forever.

There are lines that can't be replaced by technology. Case in point, the lines you run into at an amusement park on one of the busiest days of the year. 

There's no getting out of those lines. 

This afternoon I went to the park. We can tell by the number of cars in the parking lot how busy it's going to be. As we drove in, we knew it would be crowded, very crowded. The show I do holds forty people in the theater--that's it, only forty. We were scheduled to do seven shows today. We ended up doing nine. That's 360 people out of tens of thousands who can get in. Ever since we opened our show last year, I don't believe I've ever seen a line as long as the one we had for people waiting to buy tickets to see our show today.

Later in the day, I spotted another line. This one was for one of the many haunted houses on the park. I asked the worker holding the sign how long the line was to get in the haunted house. They said, from that point, it would be one and a half to two hours of wait time.

Personally, that's a long time to be in a line, but the people didn't seem to mind. They kept lining up and the sign holder had to keep walking back as more people joined the line.

I knew those who saw our show tonight had to wait a long time to get tickets. I speak to many of those waiting before the shows begin. Several have told me they tried seeing the show last year, but were unable to see it because everything was sold out. I guess, technically, they've been waiting in a "line" for almost a year.

I'm glad they decided the wait was worth it. I hope we made it worth their time.

Is There...A Subway Way?

"So," I said to my daughter as I picked her up from one organized activity so she could attend a second. "What do you want to eat for dinner?" We had about 25 minutes until her call time and we were headed into an area chuck full of eateries, many of which are considered "fast food" establishments.

"I'd love to go to Subway, but that's expensive," she said.

It is, but I thought about the request. My daughter has two more performances until this production ends and I thought, why not?

"Let's go to Subway," I said.

"Really?"

"Yup."

Subway...I don't know how you feel about the place, but I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I really enjoy their food. If I could only eat one type of food for the rest of my life, for me, it would be sandwiches. We used to go there a lot, but as the kids have grown (along with their appetites and their ability to eat more...), eating there for the family has gotten pricy. 

Then, there's the manner in which the sandwiches are constructed. You might call it "a labor of love" for either the worker or the patron. At the Subway we visited tonight, they were a little on the slow side. It didn't help that those in front of us had multiple orders, each order varying in its complexity.

I should have known going in that it would take a while--it usually does. And usually, I have plenty of time to wait for the food. This time, even though I wasn't in a huge hurry, I still tapped my toe and checked my phone more than usual.

It's good to have a corporate identity. It brings a sense of normalcy to those who like to visit. Of course, you want to have a good corporate identity. Does Subway have a way, and if so, what is it? To us tonight, it was the meal my daughter wanted that was hopefully worth the wait.