Skip the Line

Four years ago I wrote a blog post about a New York City entrepreneur named Robert who formed Same Ole Line Dudes. It started with waiting on a line for a friend so the friend could buy the latest Apple product, or sneaker, or some other highly in demand product (I've heard similar versions of the same story from different people, in the end the product does not matter, my 2018 post is probably closest to what really happened). The friend was able to get in time in time, but suggested he sell his good spot to someone else. He realized people will pay money rather than stand in line for a long time. Especially in New York City.

He shared this story with us in 2018 when we were standing in the Hamilton ticket cancellation line. Normally we don't object to standing in long lines. In the back of our minds, though, we wanted to support his business.

Throughout the pandemic I followed him on Facebook. I saw during the pandemic he morphed his business of standing in line for Broadway tickets to standing in line at New Jersey DMV when in the summer of 2020 you had to get in line around midnight if you wanted a chance at getting in the door to renew your license in person. Then the shift was to standing in long lines for COVID tests. 

Fortunately we have returned to standing in line for good theater tickets.

I read a post saying they were standing in the Rush line to get same day tickets to the latest hot Broadway hot ticket: "The Music Man" starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster. At the time, orchestra seats were going for about $800, but Rush tickets were $49. 

After a little bit of debate, we did it. We booked Same Ole Line Dudes to stand in line for us for three hours ($80 because of the sub-freezing weather + $49 for each ticket, two ticket maximum). We connected with him just after noon when he purchased the tickets and saw the show at 3 pm. We were very excited to have Robert himself as our Line Dude. He sent us progress texts before, during, and after.

You can tell by the tent he knows what he is doing.

We certainly could have gone into NYC three hours earlier and stood in line ourselves. After sitting in our seats and talking to the person next to us who had stood in line, I almost missed the camaraderie that happens in those situations -- when you chat with the others in line, get to know their stories, smile as you see them sitting in their seats, and all that. At the same time, it was nice to leave at 9 am to get into the city by noon instead of 6 am. It was nice knowing someone has figured out the system. It was really nice supporting him. Later Don sent him an electronic tip equivalent to a couple of cups of coffee.

Thank you for a great experience.