Time moves differently in a queue. Mostly, it doesn’t. We speak about a fast paced, technological driven world only to stand eighth in a line of fifteen people yawning and displaying visible desperation trying to get to the checkout counter with 6 tissue rolls and a giant Toblerone in hand. Standing in a queue either frustrated me or made me think existentially. It is during such existential times that I google the answers to my bizarre questions.
This one time, I’m so impatient standing in this line that I find myself googling questions about the line itself. It is thanks to this impatience I find out that the idea of lines, although not invented by him, was spoken about by Thomas Carlyle in his 1837 book “The French Revolution: A History”. The concept was given its attention due to the famine and bread shortages that occurred in France during the revolution. Carlyle spoke about how French society was built on the principles of ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity,’ and so to exercise this patriotism was to patiently wait your turn and give everyone an equal chance at receiving a commodity.
Now how do we tell Mr. Carlyle about the existence of those who cut in line? Those evil characters that barge right in front of you and increase the already 20 something line of impatient humans. These people come in a variety of different models. Sometimes it’s a woman with a crying baby who uses a diaper change as an excuse to get her big packet of nachos scanned. Sometimes it’s a child itself who barges in with an already opened packet of gummy bears while his father stands there and chuckles in embarrassment. However, I would go so far as to say that people who cut in line are courageous. It takes a lot of might and energy to walk right in, believing what you’re doing is the right thing…either that or just tone deafness. Why I find them courageous, you may ask? While they may be hopeless at understanding social etiquette, there is one thing they’re good at: uniting people. No one does it better than the line cutters themselves in creating a bond between those in line who have been cut. Waves of betrayal and anger form a group so strong that the offenders have no choice but to sheepishly depart.
Eventually, after the torture of back pain, laziness and exhaustion, you finally make it to the checkout counter and the cashier goes, “Ma’am, I think you forgot to get a barcode sticker on your bag of bananas.” And so, you leave to do exactly that and when you come back, the cutters make an appearance and take your spot. And it is in that moment that your eyes move from the counter all the way to the 15 people standing in line, registering the fact that now you have no option but to go all the way to the back. Frustration sets in and you’re at the end of your rope when a sly thought flashes through your mind…”Maybe cutting in line isn’t ALL that bad?”