National may be in peril

[JollyElm]

Be careful what you wish for...

Went Tried to go to a card show today here in Northern California. These types of (relatively small) shows are generally pretty well attended, but nothing too crazy. But today, due to the pandemic, it was an absolute nightmare. We arrived at about 9:30 for a 9 to 4 show at The Marriott. Pulling into the hotel, we saw there wasn't a single parking spot available, so we drove around in continuous loops waiting for something to suddenly open up. One finally did. Woo frickin' hoo! Approaching the entrance, we saw a line the likes of which I have never seen at one of these card shows before, with hundreds and hundreds of people snaking around the side of the venue, bending into every possible nook between dumpsters and construction trucks and whatever else. I talked to the guy at the door to see what was going on, perhaps there was a player signing autographs or something?? Nope, just a regular show. Owing to the current state of affairs, only 200 people (including the vendors) were allowed in at a time. My response to him was a simple, "This isn't like a supermarket where you go in, grab your stuff and leave. People looking at cards STAY and look at cards, usually for a whole bunch of hours." He replied, "Yup, I know," and told me the wait to get in would be at least two hours. Saying screw it, I joined the throngs of people on line to see if the wait time wasn't overestimated (knowing full well it was UNDERestimated). I kept staring at the people in the far distance near the beginning of the line, and decided to focus on a fellah I dubbed 'Barney Blue Jacket' (although his name was probably Mike or Bob or something). After 45 minutes, 'Barney Blue' was in the exact same spot. The line in front of me moved a bunch of times, but it was just a false positive with people scrunching up closer and closer together while the actual number of people between me and the mirage known as the door hadn't changed one bit. Nobody left the show, so no one 'new' was allowed inside. And again, there were hundreds of people in front of me. It would be countless hours before my number was called (and everything I would've hoped to buy would've already been snatched up regardless of the ridiculous pricing) and realized my only option was to bail. We left and went to eat, hit a dollar store and then Walmart, and eventually headed back to The Marriott. The line looked exactly the same (didn't even bother looking for 'B.B. Jacket' this time), so we ventured out again to check out the environs of Travis Air Force Base and walk around town a bit. By now it's closing in on 1PM and we once again headed back to the show...so take a wild guess what the situation was. The line hadn't moved at all, so home I went.

Long, boring story for nothing except to vent, but I can only imagine what kind of f_ckfest a large show will be if the same protocols are in place. Yowza.

P.S. Think I'll search for good ole 'Barn' on Facebook.