I'm not the kind to camp out all night to get tickets to the Rose Bowl or a concert -- not even if the dear-departed Beatles came back to life and got back together with the others. But I do believe that the early bird gets the worm, so I was outside Gone Wired Cafe in Lansing before 8:30 a.m. Saturday (August 2, 2008) to get in line for a ticket for Barack Obama's speech on energy and the economy Monday at the Lansing Center.
Of course there was a line -- out the door and along the front of the building and down the side. Not too bad, I thought, as I let my passenger out at what I thought was the end of the line. But as I drove two blocks down a sidestreet, I realized the line hadn't ended where I thought it had, only turned down an alley, then turned on another sidestreet, made another turn for one block and then turned again.
Maybe this bird hadn't been early enough, I began to think, as I took my place in the line that snaked five blocks away from the cafe. At least I was better off than those standing behind me in the continually growing line -- although not as secure as those who came at 10:30 p.m. Friday night or 4:30 a.m. Saturday.
I felt good about my chances to get one of the tickets -- rumored to number about 5,700 -- when the line started to move ahead quickly. I enjoyed the scene on the shady side street -- people selling coffee and breakfast burritos to the waiting Obama supporters, 8th Congressional District candidate Bob Alexander working the crowd, chatting with a few Democrats I happened to know, cars going by with liberal bumper stickers (my favorite: "Grand Oil Party"), admiring the hosta gardens in some yards.
It was so orderly and peaceful. No one even dropped a piece of litter. I didn't mind the wait -- until a woman came by who seemed to know telling everybody that we wouldn't get tickets because they had all been given away.
Still, we waited. The line, which once moved ahead steadily, had stalled to a crawl. We were less than a block away. Surely some of the 5,700 tickets were left.
As luck would have it, we barely got tickets. Those behind us signed up to be the first called when Obama comes again -- as he surely will -- for an event later in a larger facility at Michigan State University.
Such enthusiasm for a political candidate is unbelievable. How long would people stand in line for a ticket to hear John McCain?
If people will stand in line two hours for a ticket to listen to Obama, let's hope they will stand in line that long to vote for him come November.
And if enough of them do that, imagine how they will queue when he asks them to visit their members of Congress to demand they vote for change.
Now that would be worth getting up early for.
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