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Calling All Gamers

Midnight Releases crop up periodically in the “Please Mom! Can’t I go?” category of Manry family events. The final Harry Potter book, a much anticipated movie, and the never ending stream of video game releases bring my children begging to not miss out. I am often adding to my “Lame Mom” status, but occasionally I surprise. “Cool Mom” status will never be in my reach, but I don’t pursue “Embarrassing Parent” as wholeheartedly as Dale.

Once Josiah was old enough, he drove himself. Abby can also fill the midnight release driver roll. Once, I even recruited the Robyn for the task. Unfortunately for me, Josiah is in college, Abby lives in the mountains where the midnight releases happen at 7:30pm, and the Robyn has a broken leg.

Therefore, last night at 11:45pm I found myself at a lonely strip mall with Gabe and Zeke and Gabe’s friend, Nathan. Smash Bros Wii U and the latest Pokemon had brought the local gamers out of their basements and into the dark.

A line of 50 people wound down the strip mall. The early arrivers held pokemon posters and smash bros championship cardboard belts. They were mostly males of all races in their twenties and thirties. There were a few women. One gamer mom with her two year old asleep on her shoulder, one gamer chick with pink hair, and a bored girlfriend.

Zeke was by far the youngest gamer in line, and he occupied himself with  StreetPass. (Abby would like to voice her objection to Zeke being allowed to go to a midnight release on a school night when he is only ten years old. The leniency by which Zeke is being raised brings the ire of all his older siblings.)

Two line jumpers showed up and were yelled at. Two Asian teens who rarely looked up, shuffled forward when needed while they battled away on their 3ds systems. A beanie teen in a military jacket sprinted out with his game and rolled into the open lift gate of a minivan. It would have been a fantastic exit except he hadn’t calculated how painfully slow lift gates close.

A car alarm went off, and it took the gamer in line quite awhile to notice. I believe the gamer king (some guy in a hoodie) was holding court. Various people in line, out of line, and finished with the line periodically came up to chat with him.

At 5 minutes after midnight, a middle school kid and his mom got in the back of the line. Gabe, Zeke, and Nathan were in the door at 0006 and back to the van at 0010. I, unlike the other lame mom, knew to wait in the van and try not to be noticed.