Several hundred people in the Denver area spent their Christmas Eves in line outside a UPS facility, hoping to come away with one of the 50,000 packages delayed by last week's snowstorm.
According to the Denver Post, most walked away empty-handed, likely leaving the stash of presents under the Christmas trees just a little bit thinner.
About 10 inches of snow hit the Denver area Thursday, delaying ground deliveries across the state. Backlogged packages will be delivered by Tuesday, but that wasn't quick enough for those who stood in a line 200 people deep at the UPS customer service building in Commerce City, Colo. where frustration was running high.
“He said, ‘If you haven’t prearranged to have your stuff picked up, it will be another two hours.’ So I said, ‘Why didn’t you tell me before I waited two hours in this line?’” Scarlett Crawford told local CBS affiliate KCNC-TV.
Employees shuttled some of the 50,000 undelivered packages from the warehouse facility where they were stored to the nearby customer service building, presenting at least some with their gifts.
“I’ve got three of the four. The fourth I can wait until they deliver on Tuesday,” Shannon Gallagher told the station. “I was planning on being here quite awhile and I think it’s been four hours.”
Others were upset to sacrifice holiday time with their family to wait in line but figured it had to be done.
"I'm going to miss some football and time with my family," Willy Martinez told the Post, who had ordered Christmas presents for his 19-month-old daughter two weeks earlier.
Jose Ovalle waited in line to pick up a snowblower he bought for his brother.
"They're working hard," Ovalle said. "What can you do? They don't control the weather."
