Hundreds of local residents last Thursday stood in line outdoors, subjecting themselves to whipping wind and rain in hopes of securing a PlayStation 3 Friday morning, when Sony released its latest gaming console for sale. Some people took a day off work for the chance to buy one of the 400,000 available nationally, for either $499 or $599. Another 6 million are expected to be available worldwide by March. Did any call in sick? One line-waiter outside the Towson Best Buy told The Examiner, “The thrill of getting to play something the rest of America won?t get their hands on for another six months is plenty of payoff.”

How much time did those in line spend conquering PlayStation games last year? How would it compare to studying? Spending time with their family? Analyzing for whom they should vote? Volunteering? Reading? How much did they donate to charity? Just wondering.