Okay, we're going to have to backtrack for a second, here. What started out yesterday as an intended call for Demo Days volunteers inadvertently turned into a bitter diatribe about dress shoes and suboptimal pay scales. How did we wander so far from our intended course, you ask? Why, chalk it up to an attention span too short to measure using today's available technology. Because while we do think there are problems with the Demo Days program as implemented by MarketSource, we certainly never meant to dissuade any of you from signing up and bringing a little Mac magic into the otherwise dull and dreary lives of Circuit City shoppers nationwide.

In fact, we have nothing but respect for the folks who are willing to sacrifice a chunk of time to help Apple move some product. Obviously they don't do it for the money-- and, in fact, the original Demo Days volunteers weren't paid at all-- but for the love of the platform, and a desire to share the Mac's sheer wonderfulness with as many people as possible. While the cynical (and, okay, accurate) viewpoint is that Apple's exploiting the best Mac sales help in the world for mere peanuts, the positive way to look at it is this: people who love the Mac donating some valuable time to help bring more people into the Mac community and make the world a better place. You're perfectly free to feel that it's all just a bunch of tree-hugging hippie crap, but anyone who thinks that Macs are "just computers" probably isn't using one.

So does this mean we're going to be out there on Sunday, spreading the Mac gospel to the unwashed heathens in Circuit City? Well, no. Despite the fact that several former Demo Days volunteers have notified us that they showed up for their gigs in sandals and sneakers without hearing a single complaint, unfortunately we've got way too many deadlines looming to spend a whole Sunday praising the Mac's many virtues to passers-by. And considering we spend roughly twenty-five to thirty hours a week every week putting this show together, we think we're logging all the community service we can stand. But if you've got time this Sunday and you live near a Circuit City location that's still in need of a volunteer, consider signing up. You might like it-- and an extra seventy-five bucks never hurt anyone, either.