The iPhone 5, which recently made headlines for its drastic weight loss (immediately followed by the announcement of its new earbud line), will officially go on sale this Friday. In anticipation of its release, several young bespectacled people have flocked to their respective Apple stores, camping out for days until the “jewel” makes its big debut. One such person is Charles Edward Hufnagel-Dvorak, who graduated from Oberlin College with a degree in history and Japanese studies last year. Working through the services-for-hire Web site TaskRabbit, Hufnagel-Dvorak agreed to help someone be among the first owners of the new phone by camping outside an Apple store in San Francisco. He’s been in line since Monday. To fully grasp Hufnagel-Dvorak’s role as an iPhone-5-line waiter, VF Daily caught up with him while he took a break to shower.

[Full disclosure: Hufnagel-Dvorak once sublet this blogger’s Brooklyn apartment for a month and left behind several instant meals that this blogger later consumed.]

VF Daily: Hi, Charles. Thanks for making time in your busy schedule to talk to us. My last memory of you is that empty Red Bull can you left in my shower.

Charles Edward Hufnagel-Dvorak: Sorry about that.

Do you have another person holding your spot for you?

Yeah, I hired someone on TaskRabbit to watch my stuff. I just really needed to bathe. It’s been a long time.

That’s very meta. How long have you been out there?

About 72 hours. I’m being given $1,500 to stake out a spot for a phone since Monday. I’m thinking of getting one for myself with that money.

What’s your campsite like?

I have a yoga mat and a sleeping bag. I’m in a two-person backpackers’ tent that I’m borrowing from a friend. I have a little start-up gas grill that I’ve been making ramen and coffee on. I’ve been getting burritos delivered, too.

Sounds like it’s not that much different from college.

It literally isn’t. I actually tweeted that the other night.

Do you have an iPhone 4 to play with while waiting in line for the iPhone 5?

I have my iPhone 4 and I have my MacBook. People in the Apple store just let me charge whenever I need more juice. I’m trying to get better at programming, and I’m also just reading books.

Tell me how you found this job.

I started working for TaskRabbit two months ago. You just go on the Web site, you pass a background check, you go through a video interview, and then you can start bidding on jobs. It’s sort of like Craigslist but less sketchy. Normal jobs are like Ikea-furniture deliveries, or just picking up groceries. But I tend to go for some of the weirder jobs.

Like this one.

This is probably the most ambitious job I’ve done. But I’ve definitely done weirder jobs. Someone in the Mission hired me to make 12 papier-mâché alligators for their startup. I’ve played with experimental children’s toys. I’ve delivered singing telegrams to someone’s ex-boyfriend while dressed as Prince.

Prince?

Yeah, for my birthday, my roommates got me a “Purple Rain” outfit. I’m a big Prince fan.

Is this what you imagined your post-college experience to be like?

I wanted to try and find something that would pay the rent. This is definitely paying my rent in the Mission. The hours are weird but I set them myself. I can’t complain. After I finish with this on Friday, I’m actually going to a secret record store to pick up a NOFX album for someone. It’s a weird world. I’ve just been sitting there looking for other jobs on the Apple WiFi.

The Apple WiFi is the best.

Yeah, the fact that they don’t shut it off at night—it’s like really changed my life.