File Under: WTF?

Since January 1, Jeff Tweiten has been waiting in line.  When you add it all up, that comes to a total of 139 days.  Tweiten hasn't been waiting for a heart transplant, nor has he been waiting for the end of the world; he hasn't even been waiting in line at the DMV.  This 27 year old from Seattle has been waiting for the premier of "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith."  For four and a half months, this guy has been camped out on a blue fuoton couch on the sidewalk in front of a movie theater in downtown Seattle.  The theater will be showing the movie at midnight tonight, and on his way back home to his own bed in his Seattle apartment, I wonder if Jeff will ask himself "Was this worth giving up over four months of my life?"  Somehow, I kinda don't think so. 

During his 139 days of camping out in front of the movie theater, Jeff has been called a loser, a geek, and a bum, just to name a few of the printable things he's been called.  The articles I read about Jeff say what an intelligent and artistic man he is.  I'm hardcore, but I think I would have go along with the "loser" title on this one.  I've seen movies a few times on the first day they premired at the theater, but someone camping out on the sidewalk for four and a half months is just crazy. I wouldn't stand in line for four and half hours to see myself star in a movie, much less four and a half months.  The article said that he has also seen each of the Star Wars movies about 1200 times.  Does anyone else think the term "obsessive-compulsive" might apply here?

I'm no HR expert, but somehow I don't think you could pass this leave of absence off on the FMLA.  Realistically, if you were a company owner, would you want to rehire someone that left their job for four and a half months to wait in line to see a science fiction movie?  Unless your name was George Lucas, I don't think so.