life in the mom lane

I had an unusual experience on Saturday night. At 11:15pm, my son and I got in the car and drove to the local Gamestop. To stand in line. For a game. A pre-ordered game. Smash Brothers Brawl, for those of you who follow such things.

The store was full of boys and young men. There were 4 women: me, 2 other moms, and a girl who works at the store. There was one gamer girl, and one girl who came with her boyfriend and looked pissed as all get out about it.

There was a tournament going on to keep the kids occupied while waiting. My son did not participate, but clearly enjoyed watching and cheering and jeering. The tournament was won by a 9 year old kid, who beat several twenty year olds on his way to victory. There was a lot of smack talk. Lots of "you play like a chick" -- which produced outrage from the girl gamer who works there. Lots of free-floating testosterone and just general guy-ness....

There were punks (no really -- green mohawks, piercings, lipstick and eyeliner), jocks, skaterboyz, kids as little as six or seven, and a few sheepish looking grown men in the 30-40 year old range.

Every single one of them had pre-ordered the game. At the stroke of midnight, the cash registers started ringing. Each gamer went up to the register, produced their receipt, paid their balance and left with the game. The crowd was halved within 15 minutes.

Now, each one of those kids could have come in the next day and picked up their game. They probably would not have had to wait in line. And they were guaranteed the game if they picked it up within 3 days. But they all HAD TO BE THERE. They had to pick up that game the second they could.

Our son stayed up until 6am playing his new game. And said it was worth every second of waiting in the store.

And by the way, THANKS MOM!
so that is why I was at a game store instead of home in bed... for the thanks, and the grin that only a deliriously happy thirteen year old can produce.