I was waiting in a line up the other day – for almost 4 hours.  It was to get a Christmas present for my Mom, so I can’t really say what I was doing since she subscribes to my blog! Suffice it to say;  she’ll really like this gift, I hope.

Anyhow, I went to this place expecting to wait a bit – but clearly 4 hours was not what I had in mind, since I brought my 3 kids.  I was very quickly on my phone to call my husband and tell him to come and get the kids.

Unexpectedly in this line up of several hundred people – Don’t Ask! – I was immediately behind one of my clients.  She had just flown home from a trip to Ottawa and had her husband drop her off with her daughter to get the same gift.  It was nice because it gave us time to connect and talk – and outside the work arena too.

Now, as some who know me; in a situation like this I will talk to the people around me.  Unlike the days of my past where I was very quiet and shy, I have no fear anymore. Much of the talking was also some humourous commiserating about our predicament and lots of excitement as we moved a few steps at a  time. Really… you have to make light in these situations or you can get real cranky.

We waited, talked, laughed, sighed, and waited some more.  Lots more.  At one point after an hour, I went out to count how many ahead of us… not bad only 300 or so! I think the ‘so’ was being very generous too! Through it all the group around us just had a fabulous time.  We talked, laughed learned a bit about each other.

There was my client, Amy, who smartly, took the opportunity to tell some of the people around about her upcoming book launch on Sunday Nov 8th.  Her 13 yr old daughter – who had a grand time and was so thoughtfully bringing the group some water near the home stretch (about 3 hours in at that point). The young woman who had brought her Mother in Law there and was having a night out from her 16 month old. She sure went up a few notches on the  “Daughter-In-Law” scale while waiting so long. Then there was Barb & her husband (probably in their 70′s) who took turns sitting down as the night wore on. As we moved along we also met Marie, originally from upstate NewYork, but living in rural Nova Scotia now and she made a 1 hour car trip in to get this gift for a friend.  A friend who one day will learn what Marie did to get her gift.  We also met two young men; waiting their turn patiently too and as the night got longer they too soon started joining in our giggles and fun.

They all learned a bit about me – met my whole family even! I learned a few things about them too. Some people would look at a night like this and think – what a waste.  Not me.

Honestly, if I had to wait in a lineup this long, moving a total distance of maybe 1000 feet over the entire time; it was a good group of people to be surrounded by.   We got silly at times; but you had to to make light of the situation.  At one point when an announcement was made – we feared the worst, but nothing happened and we continued to shuffle along until we all finally got to hold and admire the item we came there for.

It was so worth it – and really looking back, I had a great time. Hopefully Mom will love her gift too.

Technorati Tags: networking