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Waiters Wanted

 Retail Fifthavenue Images Yx2I9057

It seems there’s more people looking for iPhone waiters on Craigslist than waiters available to wait.
In New York especially, waiters are in high demand. One particularly desperate guy wants his waiter to start camping out on Wed night — 60 hours before the iPhone goes on sale. (”I need an iPhone. Like, really need an iPhone.”)

But here’s the really galling part. He wants waiters with experience! “Interested applicants should have experience waiting in line,” the ad says.

The full desperate text:

Updated: Get Paid To Wait In Line… For An iPhone (Midtown)
“Ok, so here’s the deal. I need an iPhone. Like, really need an iPhone. It’s so bad, I’ve taken to carrying around my paper cut-out just to get used to the size. ANYWAY, I’m looking for 1 or 2 industrious folks to setup camp outside the 5th Avenue Apple Store 6:00am, Wednesday the 27th until 6:00pm on Friday the 29th. That’s 60 hours of chilling and doing nothing… and getting paid. Or maybe getting your very own iPhone if we can buy more than 1! Interested applicants should have experience waiting in line. You are responsible for any supplies, food, etc. that you may need during your stay. If you want to be considered for this rather bizarre, very odd, and slightly fun assignment, please get in touch right away…”

Meanwhile, in L.A, waiters must be reliable and focused; in San Francisco, creeps and criminals need not apply; and in NYC, security in apparently not an issue.

More ads after the jump…

In L.A, waiters must be reliable and focused:

Looking for someone to wait in line for an iPhone
“My friends, I am looking for someone who can wait in line for me to buy the new Apple iPhone on Friday, June 29 – I have to travel for work that day, or I’d be out waiting myself. Our target is the Apple Store at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. The gig starts at 5am and ends at about 5pm. You need to be reliable and focused on the success bonus. Let’s make this happen.”

In San Francisco, creeps and criminals need not apply:

iPhone – wait in line for me on 29th – $200 (financial district)
“i will be out of town and need someone to stand in line on iPhone day on my behalf at downtown mac store. i will pay for your time. and will require some sort of collateral so you don’t run off with my phone. must be an honest person, who likes camping. no creeps or criminals.”

And in NYC, security in not an issue:

Need placeholder for overnight at AT&T before iPhone release
“I want an iPhone. I need someone to go to the AT&T store on Deer Park Ave. in Deer Park on Thursday PM 6/28 and wait until I come about 8 AM Friday morning to take the place in line. I would meet you at the store the PM before.”

Wait In Line for iPhone (Upper East Side)
“I am interested in hiring someone to wait in line at an AT&T store starting Thursday evening, June 28th until Friday morning June 29th to hold a place in line so that I can get an iPhone. There is a store on 86th and 3rd which is quite nice so security is not an issue.”

Wait in line for Iphone for me!
“I need someone to wait in line for an iPhone for me. The iPhone is supposed to go on sale Friday June 29th at 6pm. You could wait in line at any of the three Apple Stores on Long Island (Smithtown Mall, Walt Whitman, or Roosevelt Field).”

About the author

Leander Kahney

Leander Kahney is senior editor of Cult of Mac, editor of two books about technology culture, Cult of Mac and Cult of iPod, and has written for Wired, MacWeek, Scientific American, and The Observer in London. Follow Leander on Twitter @lkahney and Facebook.

Email the author | Read more posts by Leander Kahney.

15 comments

    Sick!

    [...] you believe it?! Cult of Mac is reporting that there are ads springing up on Craigslist etc for people who want others to wait in line and [...]

    Schlangestehen fürs iPhone: 250 Dollar…

    In Schlangen herumzustehen ist nicht jedermanns Sache. Was läge also ferner als das Anheuern von “iPhone Professional Waiters”, die sich vertretend die Beine vor einem Apple- oder AT…

    [...] ler uma dica do Cult of Mac da Wired, resolvi dar uma espiada na Craigslist (basta escolherem algumas das entradas nesta [...]

    [...] post on Cult of Mac points to exactly how big of a release the new cell phone/iPod from Apple will [...]

    I reckon I’d get in line if the iPhone looked something like this:

    1. Exact size and shape of the iPod Nano
    2. 1 Week Battery Life
    3. Besides for adding basic phone functionality to the iPod, it can sync with my Apple Address Book

    No 3G, Wi-Fi, etc. A basic phone, but one that is sleek and easy to use. Using the wheel for typing SMSes might be somewhat challenging though!

    [...] People are paying others to wait in line at an Apple Store to get an iPhone. [...]

    [...] think I’ll know if I’ll score one until sometime on the 29th. People are actually hiring people, called waiters, to wait in line for [...]

    Digging for the IPhone?

    [...] if you think about it, I have never heard of a phone that makes people wait outside the store for 60 hours before the launch. A phone that has some people loving it to death and some people hating it to [...]

    [...] for an iPhone: “Cult of Mac blog reports that people are so nuts for the iPhone that they are placing ads on Craigslist offering to hire other frigtards to stand in line for them. More amazing is that not all of these [...]

    [...] this Penny Arcade comic. Its obvious these are people with more money than sense since they are hiring people to stand in line for them. After all, the Apple website will let you order them online; and I’m sure you could do [...]

    [...] this Penny Arcade comic. Its obvious these are people with more money than sense since they are hiring people to stand in line for them. After all, the Apple website will let you order them online; and I’m sure you could do [...]

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