iPad Defeat, iPad Success

Though sore from the previous day’s exercise and spaced from lack of sleep, I headed toward the Apple store on Regent Street anticipating success in obtaining a camera connector. When I arrived on the scene around 10:30 I was mildly surprised to see a crowd outside (they had opened at 8am) and a line stretching around the building. Undaunted, I approached the entrance and asked an apple clad individual if I could enter to buy an iPad accessory. “Why of course you can, you cheeky monkey!” she squealed. I’m kidding. It was something more akin to, “Yes.” But she did smile as she said it. I cornered a sales representative and this nice lady asked me to stay put while she tracked down a camera connector. I dutifully stood anchored to the spot, watching the buzz around me. Eventually I began to wonder about the savvy of my chosen helper and began to consider finding another when she appeared from the back room. Her hands were empty and my heart began it’s descent. She apologized as she walked up, explaining they had sold out. No camera connector? Not possible! She described how they disappeared quickly that morning. I couldn’t believe it. How many had they stocked? Ten?!? The media, so very misled, had reported that people didn’t even know what to do with the iPad–how could people know they wanted to connect their camera to it? Crestfallen, I left the store (without making a scene, if you were wondering). I walked outside with slumped shoulders and a bit of a pouty lip (when I thought people weren’t looking) and tried to think about the rest of my day instead of all the wonderful photos I would not be sharing with my friends while abroad.

That was the ‘defeat’ bit, now for the ‘success’ part. The next day, after mulling about Cambridge for the afternoon, I poorly navigated my way through the maze of promenades and side streets. I made a bizarre and unintentional loop then ended up skimming through the main arcade (that’s a shopping mall, not a hall filled with game machines) toward the bus stop I sought. On my way through, I noticed an Apple store. I was fairly buzzing by, in a hurry to escape the mass of people surrounding me, and just about passed with nothing but a disappointed shrug. Then I thought, It’s right here and it only takes a moment to check. Thank God for any angels he may have had tugging my shoulders (or displaying neon signs to my third eye) because I turned on my heel and snaked my way through the crowd to the iPad accessory wall. Lo and behold, there were little stacks of iPad camera connectors neatly stocked on the wall. I stood staring at them for a moment, struck with pleasure and a tiny sense of disbelief, then picked one off the wall as if it were a beautiful flower. I then explained to a very gracious young man in a colorful Apple t-shirt how he was supporting a truly blissful moment.

Miles away from family and friends, the little gadget represents a connection, not only from camera to iPad, but also from me to my loved ones.

Update: I now have the additional task of figuring out how to add photos to my blog posts since the WordPress blog software doesn’t seem to support uploading photos with an iPad interface and the WordPress app for the iPad is acting funny.

Update: Obviously, I figured out how to upload the photos. Yay! Super success!!! Be sure to check out older posts since I’ve added pics to some of those as well. I will add pics to the earliest posts when I can.