The supermarket of life.
Almost everything, properly understood, is a symbol, and queueing in supermarkets is a symbol of life itself. We choose the course that seems to offer the best hope of rapid advancement. But in life, as in the supermarket, we find that we have got stuck behind the old lady who wants to cash in her coupons, or the person who has picked up a jar of Kenco with no bar code. In life, as in the supermarket, we are tempted to change queues. For a while we seem to be getting along better, but then the till roll runs out. As we stand waiting for it to be changed, we see the opportunistic go-getters watching in case another checkout is opened, rushing over almost before the lady has lowered her bottom onto the stool behind the cash register. They are out into the car park and on their way home ahead of dozens who have waited longer.
We may deplore this, but the lottery element of queueing makes it interesting, as it makes life interesting and exhilerating. I find that I dislike those "common feeder" queues that you get now in banks and post offices. In life their equivalent is the imposition of egalitarian, welfare state, universal suffrage democracy.
Personally I enjoy queuing in supermarkets and ...up to a point... don't mind the wait. It gives you a chance to observe people and see who's about. This is my attitude to life really, and those who rush through it with their eyes fixed ahead miss many of the quiet, contemplative pleasures along the way.
The supermarket of life.
Almost everything, properly understood, is a symbol, and queueing in supermarkets is a symbol of life itself. We choose the course that seems to offer the best hope of rapid advancement. But in life, as in the supermarket, we find that we have got stuck behind the old lady who wants to cash in her coupons, or the person who has picked up a jar of Kenco with no bar code. In life, as in the supermarket, we are tempted to change queues. For a while we seem to be getting along better, but then the till roll runs out. As we stand waiting for it to be changed, we see the opportunistic go-getters watching in case another checkout is opened, rushing over almost before the lady has lowered her bottom onto the stool behind the cash register. They are out into the car park and on their way home ahead of dozens who have waited longer.
We may deplore this, but the lottery element of queueing makes it interesting, as it makes life interesting and exhilerating. I find that I dislike those "common feeder" queues that you get now in banks and post offices. In life their equivalent is the imposition of egalitarian, welfare state, universal suffrage democracy.
Personally I enjoy queuing in supermarkets and ...up to a point... don't mind the wait. It gives you a chance to observe people and see who's about. This is my attitude to life really, and those who rush through it with their eyes fixed ahead miss many of the quiet, contemplative pleasures along the way.