No T-shirt for me
A sunny morning in Munich. I am near the Marienplatz. A small woman with brown hair and brown eyes looks up at me.
“Excuse me, can you tell me what all the fuss is about?”
Sure, it must have been a strange experience for outstanding people. Right here in a pedestrian area, a huge crowd had gathered, with almost no visible cause for doing so. And young people in turquois and orange t-shirts were running around cheering “München, München, München, München”.
“Do you know Apple, I mean, the company Apple?” I pointed to the big, white apple with a byte on the right side that was mounted on the huge glass front of the store before us. The woman nodded.
“It is the first retail store of Apple here in Germany, I mean, it’s the first retail store in Germany that is run by Apple”, I continued. The woman shook her head in disbelief. This encouraged me to explain a little more.
Me in the crowd of spectators. Click to open a QTVR panorama.
“Apple customers are not just buying Apple products, they are enthusiastic about everything Apple does. That’s why so many people are gathering here.” With my right hand I pointed to the end of the queue about fourty meters from where we stood.
Meanwhile, the folks in the colored t-shirts were back in the store again. “Jetzt gehts los! Jetzt gehts los!” they shouted, the battle call usually fans of the local soccer team Bayern München intone when their team is lining up in the Allianz Arena. This didn’t help to dispel the woman’s disbelief.
“Okay, Apple is somewhat different than other companies, the folks hopping, shouting and hollering are in fact the guys who work at that store.”
She had enough information now. Her face showed a beautiful smile, she thanked me, and off she went. I don’t think she understood a thing of what was happening here.
And for me? I was too late and, besides being a long-year Mac user, I didn’t want to wait one or two hours just to get the greeting box. So, no t-shirt for me.
Apple Store opening
