Queue-ing

This is nothing new, I guess - queues in India work differently.

I've been spending time in the queues in a few places over the last few weeks (queues in banks, queues to get into parking lot, queues in government offices). It is amusing how folks react in queues.

Firstly, most folks really don;t like the idea of standing in a queue - most of us have that entitlement that queues are for 'others'. The first thing I'm sure most people think about when they see the queue is 'how the heck do I get to the front' - which is where the concept of a queue breaks down.

The queues tend to be compact, compressed and literally, you can have (unwanted) physical contact. There are the perpetual 'jumpers' who find that extra-ordinary excuse to get to the front (more often than that it tends to start with - 'I have a one minute request'). When reminded about the 'jump', some folks give up with a whimper, while the bold ones try to substantiate why they need to be at the start of the queue.

I sometimes feel that somehow people think that just getting as near as possible to the queue counter will help them get the work done faster. It is more of an instinctive reaction to push, hustle and get to the front.

The other annoying is the multi-tasking at the queue counter. Instead of servicing one customer at a time, the people on the other side invariably try to help more than one customer at the same (i.e multi-task) and that really doesn't help.

I just hope that we drill this into our kids - 'stand in line, get your work done and get out as fast as possible, it is just that simple'....