What a common human experience nowadays, standing in line. This practice crosses all borders, socities, and cultures, its quite amazing. The funny thing is that the only person who knows where and why the line actually starts is the first person - everyone else just follows the line in front of them. I found myself proceeding from station to station, down unknown streets, though gates and doors without nary a thought or consideration of where the heck I was going. I merely went on autopilot and followed the line. Not only that, but very busy people were willing to wait in line and follow the accepted line rules most of the time. So many rushing around, and yet the lines generally stay single file and in order, even when it is a line of walkers. The grand exception to this observation is in car lines, as the motor vehicle's power emboldens people to defy convention and decency.
Lines also succomb to the effects of the human psyche, in a phenomenon dubbed line bunching by my good friend Jim. This strangness occurs when a line does not advance an inch yet the people in line shift and scoot closer together to simulate the feeling that they are actually getting closer to their goal. Are we that impatient to want to be closer to complete strangers for a fleeting moment of seeming relief? Of course we are, we're Americans!
K
