I needed a day to chill out, sleep in, catch up on laundry (our laundry machine has gone kaput), research a new place to live, prepare for shooting which starts tomorrow and reflect on the weekend. I am working on the reflecting part right now.
Friday, before the store opened, all of us including were freaking out-nervous. I’m not sure why � of course management and the Cupertino people had hyped all of this up enough. I suppose we were just ready to get started.
At 5:45, we all left the store to greet over 1200 customers, wrapped around the block twice. And they loved it! I remember hearing a kid on his cellphone saying “who else would come out to greet their customers waiting in line”? Of course there were a lot of people being very fanatical about the free t-shirt give away. Anything with an Apple logo is a coveted item. Just goes to show why it’s one of the most powerful brands in the world.
At 5:58, we were back in the store and lined up on either sides of the door and 2nd floor, cheering and yelling at the top of our lungs. Tom Summers, the manager yells out “Are You Ready!?!?!?!” and we cheer the entering customers � the first of which had been waiting over a day in line to get in. They loved it. And so the store opened.
Friday night, I was a runner which wasn’t really a defined role until I figured it out. I was helping the inventory guys do stuff, run computers and items up to customers and make sure we didn’t run out of anything. I was slightly disappointed I wasn’t going to be on the floor but somebody has to be a runner. And anytime I would be out on the floor, it would be impossible not to have customers mob you with questions, etc. I guess my black Apple shirt gave me away.
Saturday, I hung out in the basement level once again, this time to answer phones for a few hours. Yet another not-so-glamourous job for the part-time Mac Specialist. But again, I was cool with it. I got to *sit down*, surf the web, yak with the other employees and answer some good questions to people calling in (is there still a line to get into the store?). We also had a trough of food from Corner Bakery which was cool…
But I did finally get on the floor that afternoon. I was on the 2nd floor so I could keep an eye on the Theater activities (I’m presenting a pro web design workshop on Thursday). And it was the same for Sunday too. I was actually thankful that I had already done the runner/phone gig early on so I wouldn’t have to do it again for a while. But after I was assigned to software/etc. again, I was hoping I would be on the first floor in the pro or home section so I could talk computers with people. I ended up forgetting about all of that when I was approached by Peter Gabriel about getting a bag for his 17″ Powerbook. Although I almost forgot where I was at that moment, I remained professional and helped him out without any oogles of fandom.
After he went down to pay for the bag, I looked over and noticed Tony (Asst. Manager) and Scott Murphy helping out a guy in flip-flops, shorts, canvas hat and glasses. Jimmy Buffet had decided to visit the store as well and had shown up with a few guys from his Parrothead entourage. After he left, I confirmed with Murph that it was Buffet and learned that Murph is the store’s biggest Parrothead. We exchanged on our experience and I’m sure we were thinking the same thing. I love my job.
I was just listening to Soul Coughing - St. Louise Is Listening