Don't worry that my kids are neglected. They got a Wii for
Christmas. That's because I'm a crafty old wench, and did
not think I would find one at the store before Christmas. I
purchased one on eBay the week after they came out. Oh,
I didn't pay near the $600 they were going for on eBay last
week. It was way closer to the store price, because I bought
it early, before people knew what they could get out of them.
Anyhoo...this is not about my kids' Wii, but about my sister-
the-mayor's-wife's kid's Wii.
My nephew asked for a Wii, and only a Wii, for his Christmas
gift. He graduated from HS, and recently got his first full-time
job while he was attending college. He's not a little kid, but he
wanted the Wii, not a PS3. My sister could not find one in
Wal-Mart, or any of the St. Louis stores where she shopped
for an entire day. Duh! Didn't she know that people were
buying 3 or 4 of them at a time, and selling them on eBay?
To people like me? I suppose not. She doesn't even have her
own credit card. I don't think she shops on eBay.
Sis had asked our mother to be on the lookout for a Wii.
I had told her not to worry about it for me, because if you
didn't find one while you were in the store, it wouldn't help
you to call several times a day looking for one. They would
be gone that quickly. So whenever Mom went to Wal-Mart,
she asked if they had any or knew when they were coming
in. Of course they didn't.
Last Wednesday, mid-morning, Sis got an important phone
call at school. Wal-Mart had just gotten a shipment of Wiis.
She was stuck at work. She called Mom. "Can you go right
now? I'm afraid they will be out by the time I get off work."
Her school was getting out around 12:45, just like ours.
Mom was not dressed yet. She had curlers in her hair, since
she was planning to go to a funeral later in the day. She had
on her pajama shirt, and some black stirrup pants. She's
quite the fashionista. She threw on a coat, slipped on some
wool socks that she had to pull up over her pants, and slid
into some sort of slippers. I hope they weren't the open-toed
fuzzy ones that she wears out to the mailbox. Her toes hang
over the end of them. She tossed on a coat, hoping nobody
would notice her pajama shirt and lack of proper foundation
garments. She got to Wal-Mart within 15 minutes of the
call that Sis got at school.
Mom rushed to the back of the store, to the electronics
counter, and asked for a Wii. The kid working said, "I'm
sorry, Ma'am. We only got six of them, and I just got the
last one. I have to give it to that lady over there. I've been
waiting on her, and she had to wait until I had time to go
back and get it. Mom said, "Are you SURE that's all you
have? I rushed over here to get one for my nephew. It's
the only thing he asked for, and we've been looking all
over the place for one." He said, "I'm sorry. That lady
asked for one first, and this is the last one."
Then another worker passed by and said, "You mean
that lady, over there? I just sold her one. She has it. Look
in the cart." And that lady DID have one. So Mom got a
Wii, and became a big hero.
We did not know this. We stopped by her house to pick up
something after school. I had told her we weren't coming in,
but the kids whined me into it. Mom met us at the front door.
She motioned to a chair in the living room. Poking its end out
of a Wal-Mart sack was the Wii. My #1 son almost fainted.
"GRANDMA! You found a WII!" Poor boy. I believe he
thought it was for him. He knew I'd been looking for one. He
didn't know I had one safe and sound in HH's locked vault
room. When he found out it was for his cousing, he was beside
himself. "Grandma! Can't you go find one for me?" She also
knew I had one. We had to play along.
I called Sis, and said, "I hope you're happy. Your adult son
has a Wii, and my children must go without because of people
like you who get insider information." She actually started to
feel bad. "But I thought you had one..." Ha ha. Engrave my
name on the Oscar. "I do. You should be ashamed." The kids
were listening all the while.
Anyhoo...both sets of young'uns were very surprised and
grinning from ear-to-ear on Christmas morning. My kids took
theirs to Grandma's house Christmas day, where the adults
took over and barely let them play. Be careful what you wish
for, children.
Which concludes my tale of Wii.
6 comments:
Is it pronouced Wee, as in
"This little piggy went wii, wii, wii, all the way home"? :-)
Community service announcement:
Did you see the strap recall notice?
http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/strapreplace.jsp
Lantern,
Indeed, it is pronounced 'wee'. I saw the recall notice, so I forked out another $8.88 each for two Wiimote rubber cover thingies that have their own strap. Our Wal-Mart had a big rack of pink and orange ones, but I snatched up the last blue and green ones.
HH thinks we should get two more Wiimotes, because he wants to play, as did the Veteran when he was here for several days. They don't like to share the Wiimotes. Of course, a Wiimote costs about $29.97 FOR ONE! The Devil's Playground was all sold out of the Wiimotes, though. Amazing, since there were so few Wiis to be found there.
Hehe...remember when the rage was Cabbage Patch Kids and Tickle Me Elmo's?
Goodness have times changed.
I didn't realize the Wii was still so difficult to obtain...I shouldn't be surprised though, with the holidays and what not. Those Wii people timed the release very well. Hmph.
Chick,
I remember those Elmos. They do it every year. One year it was the GameCube. I searched high and low, and found one by accident in a neighboring town.
At least I didn't camp out for 48 hours in a tent in front of the store. That's what they do in the city, you know.
You mean you actually have to leave your house and go to a store to purchase these things? I thought for sure that a couple of Japanese middle-management looking guys just showed up at your house and gave you one. You know, like in the commercials.
Jeez, and here I was thinking everyone was just being incredibly stupid for getting upset about the shortages... I'm all "duh, those two guys can't get to everyone's house at once. Just be paitent, already!"
Is my face red or what?
Stewingthepotoneblogatatime,
Yes. You have to walk all the way to the back of The Devil's Playground, and ask a high school student who works there and tips off all his friends first if there are any Wiis available.
My kids could not believe that Grandma couldn't get a Wii for EVERYONE.
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