As someone who is used to being on their lonesome, this quarantine hasn't hit me as hard as others. I have a plethora of things to entertain me like YouTube, Video Games, and social media. However, after a while, there is a need for a change. Over the last couple of years, I've been trying not to impulse buy items because I end up regretting my decision 95% of the time. But in this instant, I could not pass up the opportunity. This is a story about how I impulse bought the last Nintendo Switch in Cleveland while under Quarantine.
Now for some backstory, when I was younger, I used to have a Wii live many others. I have many fond memories of creating Miis, dancing terribly to just dance, and desperately trying to beat Mario Kart races. But eventually, I abandoned the Nintendo system to go back to my roots with the PlayStation. Once I got to college, my friend Brad showed me his Nintendo Switch and occasionally we would play Smash Bros. together with our friend Jack. Time would pass and eventually (after a terrible roommate situation) I moved in with Brad to Bromley. There he would constantly flex his switch against my PlayStation 4. He mainly was pointing out how my PS4 shouldn't sound like a jet engine when I play – which I agree with. Eventually, the conversations would turn into him trying to convince me to get a switch and I was tempted but I knew the new PlayStation and Xbox were coming out at the end of the year, so I wanted to hold off buying any games.
Then Corona happened and we are all locked in isolation. So last week, as I was chilling on my couch, I kept seeing more and more of my friends buy Nintendo Switch Lites (the inexpensive switch) and I was like, "Hm, that's interesting." After talking with them they all said I should get a switch but there was only one problem. I wanted the actual $300 console that connects to the tv; the Lites do not have that feature. My mom helped me look online all over Cleveland to see if any were in stock. And, unlike Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo doesn't make a ton of their consoles at once. Every store was out of stock of them – Three Walmarts, Two Targets, Two Best Buys, all the GameStop stores – no one had a switch in stock. All hope was lost, and I went back to just stressing about school.
Then one Tuesday morning, my mom called me from work. Apparently, the Best Buy near our house has ONE in stock! Someone might have not come to pick it up and now there was one left. The only Nintendo Switch in Cleveland was down the street! So, I hopped in my car and forked over the $300 ish dollars – kind of regretting the drastic impulse buy as I sat in the carpool loading (due to corona). But after coming back home with my copy of the new Animal Crossing game, it slowly grew on me. I even made a TikTok video of myself getting It from Best Buy and posted it on my Snapchat. Everyone was swiping up to comment on it, even my crush!
So moral of the story, Don't impulse buy. But if you ever need help looking for the only Nintendo Switch in northeast Ohio, ask for your mom's help.