Hello @diebaasman

It cost a lot of money to give out new accounts. So there has to be a waiting list. I will not go into details here but if you want to read about it you can read this post:

https://steemit.com/steemit/@dragosroua/there-s-a-waiting-list-if-you-want-to-open-a-steemit-account-now-and-that-s-a-very-good-thing

So you are one of the lucky ones that are here ;-)

Tell your friends to prepare and read about how Steemit works while they are on the waiting list.

Steemit is the biggest thing that hit the internet so far!