Parlor Spider...Step In, Little Fly

Insightful thoughts and/or rants from atop the soapbox from one who wishes to share the "right" opinion with everyone.

Sunday, April 08, 2012

Lines, Lines, Everywhere Lines...








How Long Would YOU Wait?




No question about it: I'm a small-town guy born and bred. I freely admit that, while the "big city" has some advantages over the rural life in the Midwest, it's not always so wonderful. Out in the "sticks," we can pretty much come and go on our schedule without worrying about lines of people, lines of traffic and snarled lines of communication. In the city, not so much.
While some of the 15,000 people who lined up to listen to Tim Tebow on Easter Sunday at a church somewhere came hours before dawn to get a prime spot, I would not have done so since I hate waiting in lines. For the record, the line waiting to get into the church we passed in downtown Chicago at 11 a.m. was more than two blocks long as well. Anyway, I hate waiting at restaurants, at sports venues, at church...anywhere, in fact. This weekend, though, I did endure the waiting game of lines for what promised to be a special treat: chocolate and pistachio covered doughnuts.
Call me impulsive, but when I heard the Donut Vault in Chicago was only open ONLY as long as the daily supply of doughnuts held out, I was determined to get my share. Since the hotel in which we were sequestered was a mere six blocks form the pastry palace, I figured to get there 45 minutes early, be the first in line, and get my choice of the bill of fare. As it turned out, I was barely in the top thirty people to show up...but I was far in advance of the roughly 99 (according to the store's Twitter feed) people in line when the doors finally opened.
The special was the chocolate/pistachio number, but there was also available a frosted doughnut with REAL raspberry filling (not that crap you usually get) as well as something that sounded like a gingerbread, and the basic buttermilk "old fashioned." Fortunately, it was not raining as it was the time I had to stand in line for a hot dog at Hot Doug's, another great Chicago stand-in-line-and-get-them-before-the-duck-fat-fries-are-gone place. I idly passed the time discussing the various Chicago sports teams with the two people in line behind me. The 45 minutes did not exactly fly by, but when the doors opened, there was a collective drool that escaped everyone's lips.
This place is small. "How small?" I hear you ask. It is so small that a person has to go outside to change his mind! really. There is one window with one person waiting behind an old-fashioned cash register. No more than five customers can fit in the tiny hallway leading up to the order window. Having completed an order, one has to have someone else open the door since the space is so cramped. really.
As I walked back to the hotel, the unfortunates who arrived later than I did could not even SEE the doorway yet since it was around the corner. While I had numerous offers to sell, no one wanted to meet the $5 price I had affixed. After all, MY time was worth something. There being no takers, I was left to ponder the possible benefits of waiting in line and revel in what might have been the BEST doughnuts I have ever eaten.
There is, of course, a web site, but I did not post it here because you would end up licking the monitor, and I could not be responsible for that.
really.
Since there is probably a line at the emergency room as well.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home