Imagine Black Friday on steroids: shirts being thrown around, people yelling and lines longer than at Disney World. But here, instead of prematurely hearing “White Christmas” over the store’s speakers, the whole crowd occasionally broke out in a rambunctious “Go Cubs Go.”

This was my night last night from midnight until 3:00 a.m. Yep, you read that right. And yep, it was a school night.

Not five minutes after the Cubs won the World Series last night, my dad and I knew we had to rush to Dick’s Sporting Goods to buy World Series t-shirts. I mean, the 108-year drought was over. This was freaking historic! As it turned out, 4,000 other people had the same thought.

Here is how my night went:

12:00 a.m.

My dad, boyfriend and I pull up to Dick’s Sporting Goods. It is located in a strip mall with more than ample parking space for four large chain stores. But by the time we got there, we had to park illegally because every single spot was taken. As we got out of the car and walked into the store, people high-fived us and large W flags greeted us.

At first, our group of three was taken aback; all we could see was a giant mosh pit and empty shelves. We thought they had already sold out and hence began fighting our way for shirts. We didn’t come all the way out here for nothing!! Being the smallest, I wiggled my way through the crowd and somehow got one of the last shirts. It wasn’t my size, but at least I found a shirt. However, after that hassle, our trio walked further into the store and discovered more shirts. We grabbed whatever we could find and ended up sitting hunched over in between clothing racks trying to decide which shirts to buy.

12:30 a.m.

We have finally decided what to buy! We get into line… which is wrapped around the store twice. I am standing between two middle aged families and am awkwardly trying not to eavesdrop on their conversation (which is hard because we are so close together). Nick and I take a selfie documenting our starting time so we can reference it later.

1:00 a.m.

Due to fire safety codes, our portion of the line is moved outside. As we walk out, I see a line to get INTO the store has formed and is weaving throughout the parking lot. We end up getting pushed to the end of the line and I am in a bad mood. We just waited 30 minutes for nothing.

People begin walking around, yelling out sizes and holding up shirts they don’t want. One kid gets a hat and begins crying (I overhear that the World Series championship hats sold out in the fifth inning of the game). Two shopping carts are rolled outside and people begin depositing clothing they don’t want in its metal basket. A crowd forms around the shopping carts and again I feel stress.

“Don’t worry, the line will keep moving,” my dad keeps saying. He is wrong. We don’t move for fifteen minutes and do not enter the store until 1:30 a.m.

1:30 a.m.

My group finally enters the store. We cross our fingers as we hope that the line inside is short… but we are wrong. We still have to wait around the ENTIRE store. I see people cutting the line left and right and once again my frustration grows. I have class in six hours and my group seems to be the only civil people in the store.

Each time we pass anything that resembles a chair, it is a race to sit down. I am exhausted. But we are only barely  in the store.

2:00 a.m.

Nothing much happens now. We’re still waiting. I have to pee really bad. I am getting extremely impatient.

I want to leave so bad, but I am committed at this point. I can’t leave now.

2:15 a.m.

At this point I have given up. I sit down. I make Nick pull me each time we move up in line and each time I close my eyes, sleep beckons.

Not going to lie, I was so tired that at this point, everything was kind of a blur. All I know is that my feet, knees and back really hurt.

2:30 a.m.

We did it! We are finally at the register!! I prepare my shirts to get scanned and try to get out as quickly as possible. My dad feels the same way and gets trigger-happy with his credit card. He continues to swipe it before it’s ready and the cashier begins to get frustrated. I feel bad for him… but more bad for us because at least he’s getting paid.

We finally emerge from the store, victorious. Shirts in hand, I practically run to the car. As we pass a police officer, he tells us that in any other city, there would’ve been riots over the shirts. However, despite a few people cutting us and a few people getting frustrated, there were no real fights. I’m too tired to discuss this with the police officer, but I ponder it on the way home. Thanks, Naperville Bubble.

3:00 a.m.

Finally, I am home. I set out my clothes for the next day, I grab my cat and I crawl into bed. I am asleep within two minutes.

Despite the length of the line, this was so worth it. It was amazing to see so many people support the Cubs and make me feel really grateful to be a Chicagoan. We truly are a wonderful city and I loved seeing my dad’s expression of pure joy (like a kid on Christmas morning) after this win. He has been a die-hard fan for almost his entire life and I’m so glad I got to experience this with him and my boyfriend.

Go Cubbies!