Honorable Mention: Tic-Tac-Toe
The Great iWait: How to spend your time in that endless iPhone launch day line
You partook in the frenzy of pre-ordering a little over a week ago. By divine intervention (and misleading your colleagues with false information), you scored an elusive iPhone 4 reservation. You've received your e-mail reminder to pick up your sweetie today.
And now, you and your one tech love will be joined in digital matrimony at the Houston-area Apple store of your choosing.
Folks, this is it. The day is finally here. It's National Go Get Your iPhone Day.
If we're being perfectly honest with ourselves (and you), today should also be characterized as National Wait in the Longest Line Since Your Sixth Grade Trip to Disneyland Day. The queue has already begun in the cyber-psycho capital of San Francisco. By 5 this morning at the Galleria, 50 people were already in the line for those who'd reserved iPhone 4s and more than 300 stood in the walk-up line. (Good luck to them!)
Our humidity-soaked haven is anything but an exception to the Apple madness.
Aside from playing hot hands or I Spy (although these days, you'd probably upgrade to iSpy 2.0) with the earthling either ahead of or behind you until mid afternoon (or perhaps stretching on until past din-din, egads!), what on earth is a stranded Apple apostle to do while he or she waits and waits ... and waits?
We've got a rap for that.
Jenga
The ultimate test of mental agility, you'd be hard-pressed to find an iPhone fanatic that doesn't thrive off the acute concentration required for the relocation of wooden blocks. We realize there's an app for that, but humor us here, would you? When Apple addicts are forced to interact in 3-D, Jenga provides just enough people pleasure to prevent techie introverts from going off the deep end with forced fraternization.
Telephone
As a child, if your wildest dreams were made of faux sick days, cartoons, and cotton candy, then the runner-up for that honor certainly must've been having a slew of single-file individuals with working ears, the ability to whisper, and time on their hands to wait on pins and needles until the utterance of the final message. Could there be a better setup for a game of Telephone? Don't blow this one. You may never get this opportunity again.
Red Rover
You simply cannot resist assembling perfect strangers into two opposing chorus lines, grasping hands as if palms were going out of style, and sending Red Shirt Lady on over. The idea is in your head. Fighting it is futile.
Frozen Grand Central
Since you'll be yearning for an Apple associate for an unspeakable amount of time, you'll have infinite chances to make sure Frozen Galleria or Frozen Willowbrook are flawless in their executions.
Get to Know Your Neighbor
We don't have a flashy little link for this one, because, you see, it's exactly what it says. Reach out and talk to someone, preferably one of the someones around you.
Well, wait a second. What would Steve Jobs do?
Never mind. Bury your face in your outdated iPhone 3GS or your red-headed stepchild Blackberry, and wait for the Genius Bar to acknowledge your existence. Conversation? Blah. You can have that just as easily on Twitter. After all, the virtual world is far superior to reality — it's why you own an iPhone in the first place. Why pretend otherwise?
How are you dealing with the dastardly delays on iPhone Launch Day?
