Originally written Friday, August 2 through Sunday, August 4, 2013 for the SneakerMuseum.

 Location:

Expressions

576 Massachusetts Ave,

Cambridge, MA 02139

Name: Ahsan

Hometown: Cambridge, MA

Age: 15

Size: 7.5

Date: Friday 08/02/2013

Ahsan is a sneaker head in Boston who loves to camp out with his friends for a big shoe drop. The Air Jordan III was coming out in the “Fire Red” colorway and I asked if I could tag along with him and his friends for the SneakerMuseum. This is how it went down.

The crew is comprised of 15-year-old Ahsan, size 7.5, his big brother, 19-year-old Kamal, size 10, and Ahsan’s friends: Jamal, 15-years-old, size 11, Keith, 15-years-old, size 9.5, and Jalyn, 15-years-old, size 7. They all lined up lawn chairs outside of Expressions Thursday afternoon and left them there for today. Ahsan is sporting a high top fade and rocking Nike Roshe Runs in the Blue/Speckle colorway, complimented with black shorts while big bro Kamal has a lower Caesar cut and the Black/Grey Air Jordan I Retro, which really pop due to his faded blue jeans. It’s a beautiful, warm, sunny August day and the streets are filled with locals, shoppers, and joggers. The camp begins around noon.

12:15 PM: Ahsan gets back in his spot in line in front of Expressions.

1:00 PM: Ahsan has three friends who are holding his spot down, so he hops on a bus and heads to pick up his check from work.

3:00 PM: Ahsan is back and a little hungry, so he goes to S&S - the local deli around the corner from Expressions to grab a bite.

3:15 PM: Ahsan goes back home to chill and hit up his friends to see who else is down to camp tonight.

4:15 PM:  Ahsan is back in the line. Including himself, there’s a total of 7 people so far.

4:30 PM: Ahsan’s brother Kamal joins the line. A kid rides by on his bike and asks “Yo, who’s a size 11 here?” One of the guys in line replies “Everybody!” The kid gives him the evil eye and rides off.

4:45 PM: An elderly woman takes a breather and sits down in a vacant lawn chair. She doesn’t bother asking what the line is for. Ahsan is first in line, talking to the three girls who have been holding his spot down. One of them is a size 3.5 and hopes her size will be available.

4:50 PM: Two more people on bikes have stopped by to say what’s up.

5:00 PM: Ahsan discovers his blue lawn chair is broken. He’s pissed.

5:10 PM: A guy walks by and asks “What’s on sale now, man?” Kamal replies, “Jordans.”

5:15 PM: A woman walks by and asks, “What are ya’ll people lining up for?” Kamal again, “Some Jordans.” He looks tired of answering the same question.

 5:30 PM: Ahsan and everybody else in line deliberate about when and where they should go grab something to eat. A kid on a bike rides by and tells Kamal that the sale at Concepts up the street is pretty good, Kamal decides its worth checking out, and leaves with him.

5:31 PM: A guy in dreads walks by, takes a pic of the line with his phone, and daps everybody up. More kids on bikes roll through to check up on the line as well, and now line has almost doubled in size to 12 people.

5:33 PM: A woman that lives in Ahsan’s building walks by, gives him a hug, and talks to him for a while.

5:33 PM: Another woman walks by and rhetorically asks, “Which sneakers ya’ll waiting for, Jordans?!”

 5:39 PM: Two officers approach and announce that Expressions has been receiving complaints about the line and the sidewalk being blocked. The officers threaten they will force everyone to move if they receive more complaints. Two kids on bikes ride away but say they’ll be back.

5:45 PM: A woman comes by and asks me what we’re in line for. I tell her “Air Jordan IIIs.”

5:48 PM: “$160 for shoes?! You better be able to walk on water with those things!” - A woman after I tell her that the shoes we’re camping for are not free.

 6:00 PM: Kamal comes back to the line with a new pair of Vans from Concepts. “I’ve always wanted a pair of these. They’re just classic.” He’s not even here for the Air Jordan IIIs himself, he’s just watching over little bro and enjoying the culture.

6:15 PM: Ahsan and the squad decide they want to go back to S&S to grab a bite before the ovenight stretch.

6:30 PM: Ahsan, Jamal, Keith, and Jalyn arrive at S&S and await their seating. Jamal gets a phone call with some troubling news: Someone who didn’t leave their chair in line last night is trying to cut. The good thing is that the people in the line who know Ahsan and his friends were there before them and they won’t allow it. There’s etiquette to this.

6:48 PM: The crew gets their table at S&S.

7:00 PM: Just about everyone at the table orders some form of S&S Wings. They’re good.

7:15 PM: A woman at the table next to us asks, “Excuse me, are you six handsome gentlemen all on a team?” It turns out she is the grandmother one of the kids Ahsan and his buddies go to school with. The woman then proceeds to ask me if my orange Nike LeBron X IDs glow in the dark and keep me up at night.

7:30 PM: Everyone’s mouth is full of wings, fries, and onion rings.

7:50 PM: The waitress brings the bill but states that she can’t split them up. It’s $95.00.

8:00 PM: Ahsan and his friends head to the main cashier to settle out the check separately.

 8:15 PM: Fifteen minutes of math later, everyone’s bill is separated and paid.

 8:30 PM: Ahsan and his friends reclaim their spots in line.

 9:15 PM: Ahsan leaves the line again and heads home to relax in something other than a lawn chair for a bit.

Date: Saturday 08/03/2013

12:00 AM:  Harvard Square is alive and the streets are filled with twenty-somethings bar hopping. The line is mostly empty but there are two new people there. Ahsan is still at his house but Jamal and Jalyn are holding down their spots. There is a metal gate protecting Expressions but you can see the Fire Red IIIs displayed from the window.

1:00 AM: Two women walk by and ask what everyone is in line for. one woman says, “I thought you were protesting!”

1:59 AM: More bar hoppers walk by and ask “What are you guys waiting for, sneakers?”

2:00 AM: Ahsan arrives rocking a fresh black Sneaker Museum tee and the White/Cement gray Air Jordan IV Retro. I’m wearing the Black and Crimson Zoom LeBron IIs. Clubs and bars are just letting out and there appears to be a fight happening a couple of feet away. Officers arrive.

2:04 AM: A guy walks by and asks, “Are you guys camping out for shoes?” No one replies. They’re all too distracted by latest cop car to arrive on the scene.

2:08 AM: A police van arrives to transport one man who has just been arrested.

2:10 PM: A car almost rear-ends another car right in front of the line.

2:14 AM: Jalyn shakes his head in disgust and says to no one in particular, “I can't camp out over here, man. There's rats... Drunks... Drama…”

2:39 AM: Jamal sporadically feels around his sweats and asks Ahsan to call his phone. It is indeed in his pocket.

3:00 AM: Things have died down now, as clubs let out an hour ago and apart from a small crowd smoking outside of the 7-Eleven, the streets are growing quiet. A new kid who arrives and knows the guys says he’ll vouch for their spots, so Ahsan and the guys decide it’s safe for them to go back to the house and get some rest.

6:15 AM: I drive back down to check on Ahsan and the crew as they make their way back to the line and sit in their chairs. I choose to rock my Nike Flyknit Racers for this beautiful early morning.

7:00 AM: The kids who aren’t about the over-night life start to show up and fill out the back of the line. Expressions usually opens at 10 AM on Saturdays but there’s hopes the doors will be opened early for this special release.

8:15 AM: An Expressions employee shows up and surveys the scene before heading inside.

8:30 AM: The Expressions employee unlocks the door and everyone in line stands up.

8:45 AM: The Expressions employee opens its doors and allows the first person in line to go in. It’s Ahsan.

8:50 AM: Ahsan pays for his size 7.5. Mission accomplished.