SquawkRadio

I posted a few weeks ago about my search for one of this year’s most elusive--and most desired--holiday gifts, the Nintendo Wii, for which many people were spending the night outside stores in freezing temperatures to obtain. I said there were many humorous anecdotes in my family about the lengths to which we have gone to procure elusive gifts, but that camping out in the cold wasn’t going to be one of them. I figured then that Nintendo promised there would be enough game systems for those who wanted them, and even if we didn’t get one for my son, he’s twelve now, old enough to deal with the disappointment.

What I didn’t realize is that I’M not old enough to deal with the disappointment.

The first time my husband and I ventured out to score a Wii, we gave up immediately upon seeing the dozens of people prepared to camp out overnight to buy one. The second time, two hours before store openings on Black Friday (the shopping day after Thanksgiving for you amateur shopper types), we both missed getting one by one. As in, I was number six in line at a store that only received five Wiis, and my husband was number seven in line at a store that received only six. On the up side, I WAS able to buy the lone PlayStation 3 my store had. On the down side, we didn’t want a PS3. My niece, did, however, and if my brother wouldn’t fork over the $500 to pay me back for this one, I figured I could clear a nice profit with it on eBay.

That didn’t help me in the Wii department, though. So when I was in Best Buy a couple weeks ago and heard the salesclerk tell a woman they were expecting a shipment of 50 Wiis the following Sunday, but that she should be in line by 5:00 a.m. if she hoped to get one (five hours before the store opened), I thought, “What the hell. I’ll bring a book.”

I set my alarm for 4:30 Sunday and almost literally rolled out of bed and into my clothes. I didn’t put in my contacts. Didn’t put on makeup. Didn’t have any coffee. Didn’t care. I bundled up in layers of clothing, hat and gloves (because of COURSE the 50 degree temps we’d been having at night ALL @#$%ING WEEK dipped into the 20s by then), and headed out for Best Buy. I arrived at Best Buy at 5:10 a.m. and found...a dark, closed, deserted store and not a soul in sight anywhere. I then closed my eyes and banged my head on the steering wheel, cursing the salesclerk who was doubtless having a good laugh somewhere. Or would be, once HE woke up in his nice, warm bed.

Not to be dissuaded from my Quest (and yes, by now it was indeed a Quest, with a capital Q), I drove to an all-night gas station up the street to buy a paper and check the Sunday adverts, to see who might be advertising the Wii. (I also got a cup of coffee, because I realized belatedly that I was operating heavy machinery without any caffeine in my system, a very dangerous prospect indeed.) It goes without saying that NO ONE was advertising the Wii for sale. Doubtless because NO ONE expected to have any. Doubtless because Nintendo was having a good laugh at our expense. Or would be, once THEY woke up in their nice, warm beds.

After a few fortifying sips of coffee, I decided to give Best Buy one more turn before heading home to my nice, warm bed. But as I drove down the deserted street, what to my wondering eyes should appear but a Toys R Us--with their lights on. And a small group of people standing outside. People who probably knew something I didn’t. Cranking the steering wheel to a hard right, I pulled into the parking lot and saw a few more people sitting in their cars with the motors idling. (Did I mention the temps were in the 20s?) I counted--there were five people in line. I’d be six again. Not a lucky number for me in this respect. Then I counted the people in cars. Five more. If they got in line before me, I’d be number eleven. Way more unlucky than six. So, cutting the engine, I got out of the car and into line. It was 5:25 by now. Three and a half hours ‘til store opening. I was DREADING the wait. But wait I would. And ultimately, oh, what a wait it would be…

CHECK BACK THIS AFTERNOON TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO ME AND THE THIRTEEN OTHER PEOPLE WHO ENDED UP IN THAT LINE. (NOT TO MENTION THE FATE OF THAT PLAYSTATION 3.)

In the meantime, tell me what YOU want for Christmas this year. What toy did you most want as a kid that you never got? What lengths have you gone to to find the perfect gift for someone else?