East London’s Aldgate neighborhood, a mix of dull high-rise offices, fried chicken shops, and apartments, isn’t the buzziest part of town. Not until Wednesday afternoon.
On the main street, hundreds of people had gathered in a line outside an unassuming store. Teenagers filmed the crowd on their phones, and office workers in shirts stood watching in the stifling 91 degree heat. People kept arriving at the back, asking the same question, “Is this the line?”
They weren’t waiting for a new restaurant to open or a sold-out show, but to get into a convenience store rumored to be selling one of the city’s hottest commodities: a pair of solar eclipse…
