Early this morning, the Apple folks appeared with water for the needy liners
I imagine this is what it feels like to be a refugee--you sleep outside, and then smiling people in uniform hand you supplies whether you ask for them or not.
This was followed by an even more crucial relief
They know their demographic
That's soy milk they're offering with the coffee, isn't it? Nice.
>> I imagine this is what it feels like to be a refugee--you sleep outside, and then smiling people in uniform hand you supplies whether you ask for them or not.
I imagine due to time difference most commenters have not had a time to chip in yet, but something tells me you will come to regret this series of posts for the long time to come.
Personally, I just can't believe you actually slept on a street for a stupid iPhone.
Did anybody come by with a port-a-potty on a fork lift palate?
I can picture one painted white with an apple on the door instead of a crescent moon with iPot written on the front.
Somebody there would have paid $10,000 if they thought Steve endorsed it.
I personally wouldn't have stayed out all night just for the iPhone...I would have probably done it just for kicks. Good thing for you they didn't release this thing on a rainy November.
Personally, I just can't believe you actually slept on a street for a stupid iPhone.
Different people have different ways to maximize their utility...
There's no gadget on earth that I would sleep out for. But for, say, a Nintendo Wii, I at least understand the thinking, as they are limited supply and hard to come by. But the iPhone is not that way; it's never been hard to just go into the store and buy one. Please explain the psychology of this to me, because I find it baffling.
"This was followed by an even more crucial relief"
I can't make it out. What is on the cart? The first commenter mentioned coffee. Is that what it was?
James
Please explain the psychology of this to me, because I find it baffling.
Is it any different from paying $5 at a bar for a drink you can have for $1 at home? Or paying $30 to watch a baseball game in person vs. free on TV? The draw is not the object but the experience.
I don't git it. Tis a phine phone indeed, but it is just a phone. Order one online and stay home with your nice air conditioning. Heck, order one online with your OLD iPhone.
Because waiting in line for a 300 dollar phone is the exact same thing as having your home and family destroyed by war. Welcome to McArdleland.
Bread and circuses, the end-stage of all successful and decadent societies.
I imagine due to time difference most commenters have not had a time to chip in yet, but something tells me you will come to regret this series of posts for the long time to come.
Personally, I just can't believe you actually slept on a street for a stupid iPhone.
This type of behaviour pretty much disqualifies you as a serious person, even if you're doing it in a semi-detached "reporting on the passing scene" way.
rickm: Yes, I'm sure that's exactly what she meant. There's no room in this world for humor -- everything must be taken literally. Sheesh.
OK. It's 10am EDT. I don't see a post about your new iPhone 3G. Haven't you finished the paperwork yet?
She is not sleeping on the street for a phone. She is a journalist; she is sleeping on the street for a story.
No, this is what being a refugee is like.
No, this is what being a refugee is like.
Sorry for the double post.
Wow. Lots of humor-impaired people around here this morning.
Is it any different from paying $5 at a bar for a drink you can have for $1 at home? Or paying $30 to watch a baseball game in person vs. free on TV? The draw is not the object but the experience.
I can buy that. But you don't need a new phone coming out to sleep on the street; vodka does just fine.
Why? Because it might be a fun experience! Heck, some people actually LIKE economics.
It's not my cup of tea, but I can see why people might do this. Once, perhaps. Annually, it might indicate an illness.
Please explain the psychology of this to me, because I find it baffling.
It's less about the gadget and more about meeting a bunch of people with a common interest. Typically the camping out is the fun part.
Wow. Lots of humor-impaired people around here this morning.
Dying is easy. Comedy is hard. As a joke, it was lame; plus, given the number of refugees we have actually created in the past five years, there's a weird element of tastelessness to it. I was struck by it, too. I know it was meant as a joke, it just reads very poorly.
This does remind me of the Onion's take on something similar, though:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/34165
Megan,
When are you going to blog about the GSEs?
I looked here for Rickm's sense of humor, but, evidently, it was too tiny to be seen.
First of all, I understand the psychology of it. You get out there, it's a fun experience. You meet people, hang out, get some food you might not have in the house, and enjoy the anticipation and outdoor air.
Megan can't be faulted for getting excited about a product she finds enjoyable. We all do that in some way, and at different price points.
But I guess what is kind of weird is that you look at the pictures of people on line, and you think of how right now Bernanke, Paulson and company are trying to decide the best way from keeping Freddie and Fannie from collapsing, as Indy Mac stumbles about on its own.
And you just get the feeling that all too soon, we might be standing in lines like that for more ominous reasons. The pictures- as the market approaches new lows, as oil hits new highs, as layoffs continue, as another major firm is under watch, as the dominant players in mortgages collapse- create an unintended fiddling as Rome burns effect.
In the end though, it's people having fun. I remember cutting school to go into Manhattan to see Raiders of the Lost Ark or Return of the Jedi, I forget which, and waiting in a long line with adults all cutting work. It's the people and the anticipation that make the moment.
Apropos of Megan's posts on catcalling:
Am I the only one who finds this funny, and yet another sign of the McCain campaign's tone-deafness?
from The Page:
"Event, 11 a.m. Friday July 11
John McCain hosts a women’s town hall meeting at J&L Steel Erectors in Hudson, Wisconsin."
Great place to have a women's town hall meeting!
Free catcalls for everyone!
I guess Balls of Brass Memorial Hall and Big Dick's Bar were both unavailable...
I guess I have my own odd interests, but it does strike me as pretty silly to sleep outside and wait in line for a cell phone. I know it's a super-fancy Apple cell phone, but it's still a cell phone. I guess I'm too old for that sort of thing. I do all kinds of silly and frivolous things, but not that one.
I will say, though, in response to Finn, that maybe we're not really in a recession like some people want us to believe...
Different people have different ways to maximize their utility...
Pageants of time-wasting aren't utility-maximizing, exactly.
This one is very purely status-affirming, because unlike other ticket- or record-release campouts, no one in this line is a capitalist; you can't invest in a hoard of iPhones for resale at the end. The line-place seller would be an exception, if he'd haggled smartly. But he didn't, because that's not socially acceptable...yet. Maybe at the end. We'll see.
Unless decorum breaks down and the majority turns to selling, it's an impressively sustained display of conspicuous consumption (of "opportunity cost," mostly), for the (phone's) price.
Yay that, I guess.
Typically the camping out is the fun part.
Yeah, I can see that-- it's an event. I don't mean to be judgmental, I just have read that there isn't a scarcity of iPhones so I was wondering.
Inspired by Megan's model, I think I'll start camping out in front of the grocery store every other night. Perishables, people!
"I will say, though, in response to Finn, that maybe we're not really in a recession like some people want us to believe..."
Like those effin' economists!
"The draw is not the object but the experience."
Yikes. Camping out on the street with a bunch of Apple geeks as entertainment seems like one small step away from buying a Klingon costume or learning Elvish or something.
No offense - I personally find occassional displays of massive dorkishness kind of endearing.
For the record, I meant I didn't get sleeping outside in order to get an upgraded version that is pretty similar to the original. I understand the fun of all-night line-waits for the New Must Have, though it's not the sort of thing I'd do myself.
I imagine this is what it feels like to be a refugee--you sleep outside, and then smiling people in uniform hand you supplies whether you ask for them or not.
Oh, this was supposed to be funny?
I would normally say Megan should just keep her day job, but she sucks at that too. This is the person who supported a war that has created about a million refugees.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/06/19/un.refugees/index.html
Do send a note when The Atlantic finally realizes they have a complete idiot blogging here.
Do send a note when The Atlantic finally realizes they have a complete idiot blogging here.
He cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath — "The horror! The horror!"
I like a Heart of Darkness reference as much as the next guy, buy anonymouse seems intent on being vague, anonymous, and passive-aggressive.
So typical of the 28 percenters, especially the sycophants of the rubes of the blogosphere.
So I have a suggestion for anonymouse. Why don't you make a point? Spell it out, and if you do a halfway decent job of it, I will answer you. But if and only if you use your real name.
Otherwise, go back to your pathetic little life. You bore me.
Oh, and if you don't think that one million refugees deserves outrage on an emotional par with Kurtz's dying revelation, what does? Megan dropping her iPhone?
It's easy to be snarky when you do it anonymously. Why don't you spell out, using your real name, how unimportant the human impact of the Iraq war is? Why don't you spell out, using your real name, how Megan's propagandizing for the war is A-OK, peachy keen, and just good clean fun?
I am not holding my breath. People like you are all snark, and no balls. It's easy to be an anonymous punk on the Internet.
Otherwise, go back to your pathetic little life. You bore me.
Yep, anonymouse bores you so much you've written two hot 'n bothered posts about him/her. What was that you said about a "pathetic life"?
RMc weighs in with another anonymous, pointless post. And she worries about my pathetic life?
Make a point, punk, with your real name. What's so hard about that? Just how deep is your cowardice?
And in the upside down world of the 28 percenters, it's "pathetic" to be outraged over 1 million refugees. But it's A-OK to be snarky and anonymous.
Truly, how deep does this cowardice go?
Charles, you're making something out of nothing. Megan made a silly joke about her "hardship", much like moaning about crosses to bear when you are delayed 10 seconds on your drive. Kind of like the Onion article linked above, but slightly more self-aware. Really, it just seems like you are trying to be outraged for the sake of having something to complain about regarding McArdle.
And I used my last name too!
Thanks, Alan, for making some reasonable points. My real outrage is at the anonymous punks like anonymouse who make their little snarks and run away.
I made my point about Megan, and was quite ready to leave it at that. She made a dumb joke, which for the average person would be just that. However, she was a minor propagandist for the war, so I don't find any humor in it whatsoever. Whether she and her sycophants (not you) want to face it or not, she helped create the one million Iraqi refugees.
Finally, I am not "trying to be outraged." Punks like anonymouse truly do piss me off. Disagree with me, or not, but have the balls to make a direct point and use your real name. That kind of cowardice truly does piss me off.
And one million refugees truly do outrage me.
But thank you for making reasonable points in reply.
Whether she and her sycophants (not you) want to face it or not, she helped create the one million Iraqi refugees.
Yeah, I remember when Megan rousted those poor Iraqis out of their houses and blew them up. That's just not cricket.
Finally, I am not "trying to be outraged." Punks like anonymouse truly do piss me off.
Watching your "I'm using my real name! Bow to me, pigs!" routine is pretty damn funny, though.
Charles Giacometti,
I understand you are concerned about the Iraq war, but a certain portion of the population was for it, and some against it. Unfortunately those who were for it, including me, can't control how it was executed, nor do we actually run the country where we have access to all information.
We merely have opinions on what we feel might be good or bad, and reasons why we feel it might be good or bad. And the fixed factor in all wars (good or bad) is death, displacement and monetary cost. Those items don't in fact prove a war's lack of worth.
The problem here is that you don't like Megan's writing or attitudes. They offend you. But the thing NOT to do is come on in a post about Apple products, and make a political point. A non-abusive individual with perfectly sane instincts would either 1) comment in the spirit of the post or 2) stop reading altogether and perhaps, go fly a kite.
Further, it is not difficult to imagine that humor appeals to different people. This one might like George Carlin's humor, that one might like Garrison Keiler, and another might think, "They both suck."
But you don't go to say, a Cris Rock concert, and loudly announce "I don't think you are funny and I rather dislike black comedians, and also, Iraqis are suffering" It's all about context and not being a huge cartoon parade balloon with hot air, sans a parade.
As for people posting anonymously, in part it's because they know there are certain people out there like YOU Charles, who communicate entirely through insults and rudeness with a ridiculous sense of self importance. It's not because they fear your powerfully dull typing fingers or deeply flawed intellectual and emotional state.
RMc returns with a nonsensical, cowardly, and, of course, anonymous post. I wonder if somewhere, under the inane little snarks, RMc has a clue about moral culpability in the run-up to an unnecessary war, and how a pure propagandist like Megan must be held accountable for her actions.
And someone named Finn--who comments anonymously here and blogs anonymously elsewhere--invents, whole cloth, rules for discourse that have nothing to do with reality. Apparently, I am only supposed to post in precisely the manner "Finn" prescribes.
I wonder if Finn even has the IQ to realize he or she is advocating censorship.
Probably not.
But "Finn" can use all caps to make a point, all the while scolding me for my bad behavior.
I always say reality beats fiction, every time. If I were the best writer in the world, I could not invent such shallow, cowardly, poorly informed, and ignorant people.
And the Atlantic was such a fine publication once.
Chucky, I've tried making points with you. It turns out being like a game of frisbee golf with a brick wall; every attempt to score is a direct hit, but the wall just stands there, dense and unyielding as ever. Also, I don't particularly like frisbee golf.
Send me a note when you acquire a sense of humor, a personality, and a better suit. You can find me behind the fridge, deftly avoiding that rather flimsy trap you set. Cheers!
Anonymouse--such a perfect name. In answer to that famous question, are you a man or a mouse, anonymouse chooses mouse! And chooses to hide behind the anonymity of the Internet.
How could one be so proud to be so cowardly?
I guess if I attempted the kind of "wit" anonymouse attempted in this last post, I might want to remain anonymous too.
nonsensical, cowardly, and, of course, anonymous
I am considering this for my tombstone.
Just for fun, let's google the holy name of "Charles Giacometti"...hmmm, kinda thin there, Chuck. Mostly just comments on weblogs like Dr Helen, Althouse, Bill Hobbs, Protein Wisdom, and the like. Mostly Chuck's pissed off about the war and the fact that, you guessed it, other commenters won't use their real names! Oh, the humanity!
If you googled my real name, you'd find a number of actual accomplishments, not just tiresome bromides on other people's weblogs. (Granted, those are mostly other people with my name, but still.)
Of course, we can't Google your name, because you are too much of a coward to use it. You don't have the courage of your convictions, or you are smart enough to realize that if you revealed yourself to be one of the 28 percenters, the sane people around you would burst into laughter and then shun you for the rest of your sad life. (I truly doubt the latter. I peg your IQ at about 87.)
But sure, claim "actual accomplishments." I am sure the list as long as your courage is deep--in other words, nonexistent.
You can keep on popping up with your cowardly little snarks "RMc," but I am done with you. You've proven my point far better than I ever could. Once again, the best writer in the world could not invent such a cowardly, petty little person.
This post has been redacted because it contains the name and address of a person who, Charles assures me, is not the address of our own beloved cave troll.
I imagine this is what it feels like to be a refugee
Really? Having to wait in line and buy a second phone, a second phone that you could have bought on-line from the comfort of your home--or, if you like, on-line using your previous iPhone--is as traumatic as having your family raped and murdered, your home bombed and burned, and then being driven from your homeland to some squalid border camp? Fascinating, because the conventional wisdom has always indicated that the two really have nothing in common.
It truly takes a shallow, materialistic, self-absorbed prophet with too much time on her hands to wake us up to our own blindness.
I imagine this is what it feels like to be a refugee.
It don't really matter to me, baby, you believe what you wanna believe.
Swap out the photos for some interior shots of Target, and Megan's post could have been ghost-written by James Lileks. But not in a good way.
This post has been redacted because it contains the name and address of a person who, Charles assures me, is not the address of our own beloved cave troll.
Sorry about that, chief.
Off-topic, as was the original, but, lampwick, you should know that the Chief Executive of J&L Steel Erectors is one LouAnne Reger, which may be why the women in business event was held there. Now get your mind out of the gutter. Remember, John Sidney McCain III doesn't know a thing about Viagra™.
Off-topic, as was the original, but, lampwick, you should know that the Chief Executive of J&L Steel Erectors is one LouAnne Reger, which may be why the women in business event was held there. Now get your mind out of the gutter. Remember, John Sidney McCain III doesn't know a thing about Viagra™.
Ooops!! Sorry. Please delete so I don't look like any more of an idiot.
Thanks!!
Charles, perhaps a 9 percenter (http://news.yahoo.com/s/rasmussen/20080708/pl_rasmussen/ratecongress20080708) such as yourself can start your own blog, where you can rage as much as you want against anyone and everyone who dares write about subjects other than what you deem to be important.
I imagine this is what it feels like to be a refugee...
Christ on a bike, does it get any stupider than this?
Nice hire, Atlantic - your circulation numbers must be soaring!
I don't understand why these anonymous cowards won't give me their names and addresses. It's not as if leftist shills like me have a reputation for going to their political opponents' homes and harassing them and their famiies. We on the left are known for our upstanding behavior.
Why does anybody have to justify themselves for doing something wacky and harmless?
"Now the great affair is over,
but whoever would have guessed
it would leave us all so vacant
and so deeply unimpressed.
It's like our visit to the moon
or to that other star
I guess you'll go for nothing
if you really want to go that far."
your comments are world famous and now the object of a cartoon.
Take a look at:
http://www.someguywithawebsite.com/cartoons/2008/080714_mcardle.html
A refugee? Are you kidding? You slept outside for a bloody phone. The fact that you are employed as a writer is evidence that the free market does not exist. Privilege and opportunism are the only explanations for your so-called career. Please, buy a soul.