animals, Family, Food, Gatherings, Uncategorized

Lining Up For Lobster

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Until the last oil boom, fresh fish of any kind was a rarity here in the grocery stores. The influx of oil workers from Gulf Coast states changed that, and now we have a pretty reliable supply of fish and shellfish.  Fresh lobsters are still a rarity, and when one of the local grocery stores advertised fresh lobsters, $9.99 each, Husband and I decided to try to get a couple.

The sale was on for a Saturday starting at 10:00. Customers were limited to four lobsters each.  We arrived at 9:45 to find the line stretching from the back of the store to the front door. We qued up, and waited  patiently while the line got longer and longer behind us. Store employees were taking photographs of the customers.  By 10: 15, they were sold out. We didn’t get to move ahead much at all before the lobsters were gone.

I can’t say I was too disappointed not getting lobster. It was going to be a busy weekend anyway, and a couple of lobsters would have made it even busier. I marveled, though, at the dozens of people who got there before us, determined to get a lobster at a fairly decent price.  I typically hate standing in line for things.  I don’t know why I was willing to do so this time. I suppose the novelty of fresh lobster was a draw.

When have you stood in line for something.  Was it worth the wait?

 

46 thoughts on “Lining Up For Lobster”

  1. the last supper in that little chapel in italy

    also years later the city of florence is where my daughter studied and took us to the top of the duomo, to see david and to the ufizzi art museum
    all required lines all were worth it

    bob dylan playing around the olympics in atlanta was a yes

    a day at disney world is a day of standing in line

    the disney genius vs universal studios…

    disney has an ever changing sign telling you your wait will be ___ minutes. if it says 45 you will get there in 40 and you are so happy that you beat it you’re pleased
    at universal studios the sign says 30 minutes and when you get there in 40 you’re really upset

    every every every time

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  2. Rise and Shine Baboons,

    Toilet paper. Costco. April, 2020.

    We arrived home from AZ to find a limited amount of TP in stock at home, although we had enough to get by, as well as a stash of Kleenex as a substitute if needed. So we stood in line during “senior citizen” hours before opening to score TP last April. The most notable thing about the line was the couple who lined up behind us. They were people who bought something from us at a Church youth fundraising sale 25 years ago, and they did not like what they purchased. They became angry at us because we would not refund their money, despite the fundraising nature of the transaction, as well as the fact that we had no responsibility for the experience they had not liked.

    Good Christians that they are, they still have not forgiven us. Oh, Man. What do you even say.

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      1. They were not people we liked much, and they left the church in a huff because of all the usual church-ie issues. I was just amazed at the ability to hold a grudge that long over a pretty small thing. These are people with a lot of money.

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  3. For New Year’s Eve in 1981, my best friend and I decided to see “Reds” at the Cooper Theater. It was bitterly cold and we were shocked to see how long the line was for tickets to the 7P show. By the time we got to the ticket booth, the 7P was sold out. Because we had stood in line for so long (probably more than a half hour), we chose to get tickets for the late show instead of going home. To kill time, we went to the Lincoln Dell both to warm up and and very s-l-o-w-l-y eat dessert. Today I doubt I would stand in line for such a long time just to see a movie.

    In my travels there are many places where I would have stood in line for very long times. Being part of a tour group allowed us to either move to the head of the line or at least get much closer to the entrance. One example is the Taj Mahal. The lines for “ordinary” people were extremely long and slow. We got to be in the “valued ladies”, and “valued gents” lines which meant no waiting for the guys and maybe 10 to 15 minute wait for us ladies.

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  4. I remember mostly lines for movies, which moved along pretty well. And when traveling in France, we elected to not go to some places where there would have been at least an hour’s wait in line – Notre Dame for one… I see the advantages of being part of a tour!

    Here have been lines here lately for the popular Bloedow’s Bakery once it reopened. And last week, when the Harris-Biden signs finally reached Winona, there was a line clear down the block at the hand-out location (which was refreshing because there are an awful lot of Trump signs.

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  5. I stood in line for 2 hours at The Fargo Theater to see Star Trek: The Motion Picture. My group, including my father, were waaaaay up in front. My Dad is not a science fiction fan nor is he an especially noteworthy movie critic but he was spot on as he mumbled through out the showing, “I stood in line two hours for this?!”

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  6. Even when I had a workable body, I was too impatient to stand in line. Since my tastes are idiosyncratic, the presence of a line does not suggest I need to join it; it suggests that I would almost surely not enjoy the reward for getting in line.

    I will cheerfully line up to cast a vote. Especially this year. 50 days, folks. Just 50 days.

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    1. YEs!.. I have my mail in ballot ordered in case COVID starts to spiral again, but I plan to don my gloves, my face shield and my mask, then to go vote in person unless the virus is completely out of control.

      Poor Iowa. My sister’s family is sick and they need COVID tests which they cannot obtain. Iowa has become a third world country.

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      1. I had something specific in mind, BiR. Sometimes Netflix or some other entity with computers will try to tell me what I would like from their current offerings. They’ll say, “many viewers in MN like this” or “your friends like this” as if that meant I would like it. That always seems demeaning, as if someone could predict me based on its perceptions of the preferences of my friends. I am comfortable with the fact the Netflix algorithms don’t know me; what bugs me is when they pretend they do.

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    3. PLEASE I BEG YOU don’t go vote in person on election day. Get a ballot and drop it off. Every person in a polling place raises the risk for your poll workers. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.

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  7. Morning-

    Hmm, Lines. I don’t recall the last line I stood in. Even the fair food in the parking lots this year, maybe I waited for one person in front of me. My feet don’t like standing in one place, so lines are hard. Or even just standing for events. Walking is better for my feet but it makes my knees hurt. Then standing is better for the knee, but makes my feet hurt.
    Such a bummer.

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    2. A few years ago when we were in DC, Daughter and I went to the national archives. Made our way to the lobby area to get into the line for the big three. I had no idea what to expect and saw there was a large group and there was someone talking – I think, you know, trying to keep the crowds engaged while waiting their turn. A security guard called out to me; asked if daughter was with me, and said ‘Come with me’. She opened a side door, which let us directly into the main domed room with the documents, and said ‘Just make your way into the group’. It was the nicest thing. I have no idea how much time we saved but it sure was appreciated!

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  9. I’ve stood in line at various museums to see specific exhibits such as the Treasures of King Tut, paintings by Georgia O’Keefe, Monet, the Expressionists, and others. All were worth the effort.

    I stood in line to pay my respects when Hubert Humphrey’s body lay in state at the Capitol. This was memorable because it was a long line, and it was a cold January evening. Worth it? There was nothing in it for me, but I thought I owed Humphrey that much. It felt good being in line with a bunch of folks who felt the same way.

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  10. I can’t imagine ever waiting in line more than a few minutes for a movie. It’s not as if it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
    I remember waiting in a long line to see Silly Wizard at the Half Time Rec in about 1983 and to see the McGarrigles at the Cedar Cultural Center, but usually a long line is a powerful disincentive.
    Probably the longest line I ever consented to stand in was at the Uffizi in Florence. I really can’t say it was worth it. There were the Botticellis, of course and other famous stuff but the Botticellis were up high and covered with thick plexiglass and the museum was so crowded that a memorable experience was impossible. The Bargello was better. We found that if we went up to the second floor, we could avoid the tours for the most part and actually pause and appreciate what we were seeing.

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  11. One of the more memorable lines I’ve stood in was the one formed on the sidewalk in front of K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans. The wait staff came around and took our cocktail orders while we were waiting for the doors to open. Standing around, sipping our cocktails in the company of eventual dining companions, was festive and fun. People from all over, getting ready for some good Cajun food, and getting to know each other prior to being seated with random strangers. Great fun. After dinner, I was lucky enough to be given a tour of the kitchen by Paul Prudhomme and have my picture taken with him.

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        1. I was part of an idea-generating session at a place in Riverplace. The client was Oscar Meyer, I think, and they were thinking about adding some Cajun-flavored products. They brought in Paul to consult. After the session, some of us went down to lunch at one of the restaurants.

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    1. That’s true! I remember waiting for a Lyft in a thunderstorm (remember the other day I mentioned the 200% upcharge because demand was high?) I wasn’t literally in a line, but we did have to wait.

      You know, ICP, sometimes I can’t make your posts match the topic, but this one I could!

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  13. I also stood in line, one that moved at a pretty steady pace, to view the body of Lenin in the mausoleum on the Red Square. At the time it seemed like an opportunity I couldn’t pass up, a it wasn’t open to visitors very often. Hard as I tried, I couldn’t really tell whether his body was real or it was a wax figure in that coffin. Whatever it was, I did see it.

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  14. Lines became an issue when my erstwife and I traveled in the UK. We had so little money those trips felt like a “once in a lifetime” chance to see remarkable things. And yet we (and especially I) were reluctant to get in long lines to view famous things we might never otherwise see. Almost all my favorite memories of that travel involved personal contact with local folks. I’m sort of glad I saw the Armory at the White Castle, and yet I’m still not sure it was worth standing in line so long. This is not an easy issue. Were I to travel again, I’d find it difficult to rule out all the special sights (like Westminster Abbey) in favor of just bumbling around from pub to pub.

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  15. My mom and I used to go every December and wait for the Forest Lake bakery to open. Part of the waiting was in the car, because it was cold, but usually about an hour before the bakery open the line started to form outside. My mom and I would trade off if it was too cold but if it was decent enough we would stand in line together. I’m not sure why we didn’t just order what we wanted ahead of time and pick it up but it was a tradition that we both loved.

    Oh I also slept outside of Southdale wants to buy Bon Jovi tickets. That was very interesting.

    And of course I drove to Saint Paul at 4 o’clock in the morning and stood in a line outside the Fitzgerald. Got a fabulous seat in the second row of the balcony.

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      1. Oh yes…thanks for reminding me of this. Now that was a fun line to wait in. I was sad when they quit doing First Saturdays and then I heard that they went out of business a while ago.

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  16. line for jimmy carter was interesting winding through the mega bookstore
    line for corn on the cob at the fair is worth it
    i went to london that summer after chernoble and khadaffi and we had the uk all to ourselves . i remember going to see the crown jewels and how the guards kept saying move along and pushing us i asked why they were pushing and they said they had to keep the line moving. i got them yo lighten up when i pointed out there was no one behind us. they were just creatures of habit
    did a long line for obama at a sports stadium. i like that guy… i remember it being a 1 1/2 hour snaking constantly moving line
    waited for bernie and al franken simon and garfunkel dylan four or give times and oh yeah bill … als breakfast

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    1. I, too, waited in a long line outside the Hungry Mind Bookstore for Jimmy Carter to sign my copy of his book “”Turning Point: A Candidate, a State and a Nation Come of Age.” To my mind, not a very rewarding experience. Surrounded by his Secret Service detail, there was no opportunity to have any kind of exchange with him. He does hold the distinction of being the only ex-president I have ever been face to face with. I also attended an Obama rally at the Civic Center, but that was before he was elected president. As far as the current White House occupant is concerned, if I had ever been in the same room with him, I wouldn’t admit to it.

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      1. You just reminded me that I stood in line in Washington DC so I could get a good seat to see Bill Clinton when he was president. My company had won a big national quality award and I was selected as one of the representatives to go to the ceremony; Clinton gave out the award.

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