To Wait for Wings… or Not?

I must be getting old and tired… because when I found out that I didn’t have to spend the night on the sidewalk tonight… I was very happy!

Most youth workers are pretty resilient. We can sleep on a gym floor, survive on pizza and warm coke, and even fix a carburetor with pocket lint and toenail clippings! That’s why me and my buddy Kevin (the junior high pastor at my church) were both willing to stay the night on the sidewalk outside of the brand new Buffalo Wild Wings (BWW) by my house to be one of the first 100 customers (and get free wings for a year).

For those of you are lost… you might want to read my previous blog on Friday where I told you all about the new BWW restaurant opening by my house tomorrow (Monday). In that blog, I told you about two fun BWW experiences planned for this weekend. First, I had received some VIP passes for a free meal at their “preseason event” where they train their staff for opening day. I brought the family to that event Saturday night and it was even better than expected. We felt guilty about how much food they provided: appetizers, wings, burgers and sandwiches… even dessert. We were stuffed! All free.

But in that blog I also mentioned that I was going to drive by Monday morn at 5AM and see how big the line was for opening day (Monday at 10AM). Those plans changed when we noticed that there were already 10 people in line Saturday night (yes, 2 days in advance) for the grand opening.

So this evening (Sunday) at about 6PM I drove by to see how long the line was. About 35 people were now in line, all sitting in chairs playing dominos, working on laptops, etc. It was like the “male version” of a Twilight premier.

I called up my buddy Kevin (who had planned on going with me bright and early Monday) and asked him his thoughts. Neither of us wanted to give up our Sunday evening with our wives (because we’re smart!)… but we agreed that I’d go by before midnight and take a count, and if there was less than 100, we’d get in line and spend the night on the sidewalk.

So at about 11 tonight (it’s still Sunday night as I type this) I drove by and started counting. There were about 120 people standing in line. I breathed a sigh of relief and texted Kevin. “Abort mission. 120 people already here.”

Funny… I definitely would have had a fun time hangin with Kevin all night and then getting the free wings for a year. But something else inside of me was pretty dang happy when I got to drive home and spend the night in my own bed! 🙂

Well… I gotta go. I have to finish writing my Youth Culture Window article on tonight’s MTV VMA’s! It will be up by tomorrow afternoon!