When Oprah names the Magellan RoadMate 700 as one of her favorite things, two things happen: happy retailers sell out of it and sad shoppers can't find it. It's called the Oprah Effect.
The adoption world is bracing for its own OE tomorrow when Oprah airs a Lisa Ling story on adoptions fro China. In theory, this kind of exposure is a good thing (more babies adopted = good thing), but for people like Lisa and me it could be a disaster. Why? Because we're the shoppers, not the retailers.
Just today we learned that the SBI "can't find" our request for criminal records because they're bogged down with other adoption requests, so we have to send it again along with another $28 money order. And the Charlotte immigration office, which we'll be counting on to give our future baby an immigration visa, has a 4-month backlog. This is apparently an improvement. Now imagine a few thousand Oprah fanatics entering the queue along with us and you'll see why we're worried.
If we were further along in the adoption process, I'd feel better prepared for the OE. But we have a tenuous spot (pre-approved with Great Wall, but haven't started the heavy documentation process), so there's no telling if that wave will catch us or not.
P.S. I'm really supposed to be learning about polymorphism in Java right now, but it's insanely boring. I'd much rather watch Homestar Runner clips instead.
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