I’ll never forget the evening of Nov. 18, 2006.

After camping outside of the Fred Meyer on West 11th Avenue for nearly 30 hours, a crowd of 52 waited with bated breath as the store manager walked out of the double doors next to the in-store Starbucks. He approached us, handed me a list of names and I started reading them aloud, starting with mine.

The crowd formed an orderly queue, falling in line as I recited their names. This ragged piece of notebook paper was handed throughout a makeshift camp near the parking lot where we each arrived over the course of the last day and a half with one goal in mind: To pick up Nintendo’s Wii console at midnight on launch day.

I arrived with my roommates at 6 p.m. on Nov. 17. At 10 p.m., we got nervous that somebody else would be first in line — we left the car and plunked down in front of the store.

The next customer didn’t show up until 1 a.m.

As the night wore on, more joined us including one man at 3 a.m. and a small family at 5 a.m. As our ranks grew, we made room for each other. We pulled out our Nintendo DS’s and played “Pokémon” and “Mario Kart” together. At around 5 p.m., with seven hours to go, the trouble started. The manager told us he only had 53 consoles in stock. There were 56 of us in line.

At around 5 p.m., with seven hours to go, the trouble started. The manager told us he only had 53 consoles in stock. There were 56 of us in line.

If there’s one thing I’m glad I learned while working at Old Navy for four years, it’s the value of stock checks. I asked the manager how many consoles the Florence store had.

Twelve.

Nobody on the coast was waiting outside the Fred Meyer there. Nor was there a line at the Albany store, where eight consoles sat unclaimed.

So we started the list. We also started directing people elsewhere.

“There’s six left in Florence and it’s three hours to midnight,” I remember telling somebody. “You can still make it if you go now.”

At the end of the night, there were 53 people in line on West 11th Avenue waiting for 53 Wii consoles.

In exactly three weeks, on Nov. 15, the same scene will play out all across the country upon the release of the Playstation 4 and again seven days later for the release of Microsoft’s Xbox One.

At least I hope it does.

When you wait outside a store in the cold, whether it’s for the next big Apple product or a video game console — hell, even for ESPN’s College GameDay — things can get ugly. People get grumpy and pushy. Passersby stare and make fun. But it can also be a memory you’ll never forget.

If you’re waiting in line somewhere on the evenings of Nov. 14 and 21, take a cue from the folks who camped outside of Fred Meyer on West 11th Avenue seven years ago.

Talk to people. Go in on a pizza. Make it a night you won’t forget.