Whether we like it or not, we all have waited in line for one thing or another. We wait in line in school to get to the cafeteria or in the grocery store with our arms full of produce and most of all. We wait in line at the amusement park to get on a ride. If you really think about it, we spend quite a bit of time of our lives just waiting in line. Sometimes, we don’t mind the wait, but when there’s a circumstance that makes us uncomfortable we don’t tolerate the time spent in line.
A couple days ago, I waited in line to enter a store that was closing and I wanted to take advantage of the discounts they were advertising. The store was supposed to open at ten in the morning and I planned to arrive early so I can go in and out with enough time to grab something to eat before going to work. That plan didn’t go as well as I had hoped.
By the time I arrived at the store, there was a line wrapping outside the door around the corners of the street to the back entrance of the store. I contemplated between waiting in line like everybody else or going home and coming back later in the day when the hype wasn’t there anymore. Since I went with two other people, they decided to stay so I ended up staying as well. While I was waiting in line, I realized certain things that I wouldn’t have thought about before.
The first thing that I realized was the change in climate. I felt the shine of the sun brighter than I had any other day that week. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the sun had been hidden behind white and gray clouds. It even rained for a little bit; it made it feel like it was winter in the middle of summer. So you can imagine my surprise on that Thursday morning when I started to feel the heat burn on my unprotected skin.
The next realization came to me no more than ten minutes into waiting in line: the lack of patience and common sense of other people. When you pulled into the street where the event was occurring, you could easily tell that something was going on. If you knew what the event was for and you knowingly walked to the end of the line, you’d know that everybody in front of you was willing to wait and bear the blistering heat.
For some reason, one woman didn’t understand that. This woman shouted at everyone in line, demanding that older people and children should get first priority to enter the store. While she shouted her comments, you could hear the people waiting in line shouting back, “They don’t have to wait in line if they don’t want to” or “This isn’t the Titanic”. Even though I know that it is common courtesy to respect older people and children, the people in line with me had a valid point. They didn’t have to go to the event, nor did they have to wait in line. It was their decision to go and it was also the decision of the parents to take their children with them.
Another thing that I witnessed while waiting in line is the rise of tension amongst people. After waiting for some time under the intense heat, you could easily notice how people grew anxious fairly quickly. Whether it was the lack of cool air or dehydration, the patience of people wore out really quickly.
Maybe an hour and a half into my wait, parking patrol came and asked people waiting in line to move their cars if it was parked in the alley. Apparently, many people had parked in the alley and this caused unnecessary traffic. We were fortunate that parking patrol gave people a chance to move their cars before he began to cite people. However, it wasn't long until he began to write up tickets to those who hadn't moved their cars. We waited in anticipation for those who were still inside the store to walk up to their car and see the ticket posted to their windshield.
One elderly woman was a victim to this; she came out with her hands filled with supplies she had bought, grinning at all that she had purchased, only to see that the money she had saved would now have to go to paying for a parking ticket. In that moment, one of the rolls of paper she bought fell to the ground in front of the alleyway and a man who tried to drive into the alley impatiently honked at the woman and us just because he had to stop.
Everyone in line began throwing empty bottles at the man’s car shouting at his lack of patience. Nobody cared about the consequences, but they also didn't know if they would be punished for defending the elderly woman. Fortunately, this was the last thing I witnessed before walking into the store.
Although this is about one experience of waiting in line in the middle of summer for some silly discounted items, I know that everybody has an experience similar to this if you've waited over an hour to reach your goal. If you ever decide to wait in line for some silly thing, make sure you go with people you're willing to spend time with because you want to be able to laugh about the nonsense later on. If you don't take people you don't really get along with, then they might ruin the experience for you.
