More boxes of T-shirts arrive at a crowded store
Washing away the signs of celebrationCopyright 2009 Lydia Hinshaw
CHAPEL HILL, NC -- It was luck that my annual trip to North Carolina coincided with my alma mater's fifth national basketball championship.
After watching the big game Monday night with my brother at his home two counties west, I drove here Tuesday morning to survey the damage and perhaps pick up a national championship T-shirt.
There was no real damage, or maybe Franklin Street had already been cleaned up after the mob scene that television cameras caught in the early hours of Tuesday. Near the Wilson library, a workman was pressure-cleaning a "UNC # 1" some reveler had spray-painted on the brick walk.
I got my T-shirt, but it was a cheaper classic model, one I could have bought here, or mail-ordered, any time.
The lines to pay $16-20 for the hot-off-the-presses national championship T-shirts filled the aisles of five stores I visited. As cashiers swiped credit cards, other employees struggled through the crowds with more boxes of shirts. National championships are good for the economy.
I didn't have to wait in line to buy my shirt, but I did wait in line to get into the parking garage, waited longer to find a space, and still longer to get out when I was ready to leave.
I left town before the afternoon rally to welcome the team back to the Dean Dome. I had an appointment to visit elderly relatives to visit on my way toward I-95.
Tuesday at dark I pulled into an el cheapo freeway-exit motel in South Carolina.
I will have only six hours to drive Wednesday.
After watching the big game Monday night with my brother at his home two counties west, I drove here Tuesday morning to survey the damage and perhaps pick up a national championship T-shirt.
There was no real damage, or maybe Franklin Street had already been cleaned up after the mob scene that television cameras caught in the early hours of Tuesday. Near the Wilson library, a workman was pressure-cleaning a "UNC # 1" some reveler had spray-painted on the brick walk.
I got my T-shirt, but it was a cheaper classic model, one I could have bought here, or mail-ordered, any time.
The lines to pay $16-20 for the hot-off-the-presses national championship T-shirts filled the aisles of five stores I visited. As cashiers swiped credit cards, other employees struggled through the crowds with more boxes of shirts. National championships are good for the economy.
I didn't have to wait in line to buy my shirt, but I did wait in line to get into the parking garage, waited longer to find a space, and still longer to get out when I was ready to leave.
I left town before the afternoon rally to welcome the team back to the Dean Dome. I had an appointment to visit elderly relatives to visit on my way toward I-95.
Tuesday at dark I pulled into an el cheapo freeway-exit motel in South Carolina.
I will have only six hours to drive Wednesday.
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