
The Things That Come to Those Who Wait - pepys
https://www.racked.com/2018/1/17/16897160/lines-waiting-history
======
muxator
> The first historical description of the line only appeared in 1837, in
> Thomas Carlyle’s The French Revolution

I grew up in a country where probably nobody has ever seen that 1837 book, and
almost everyone systematically refuses the very concept of a line.

Instead, people "optimize" their way towards their target, be it the door of a
public transport bus or the physician's office.

Pretending not having seen you, they literally pass sideways, over and - if
necessary - under you, if you happen to be on their way for more than a couple
of seconds.

Try to affirm your rights, they'll push back with twice the physical and
verbal strength. Any hope for the authority to mitigate this is an illusion,
because those who are in charge of enforcing the rules are expression of that
same culture, and transparently dismiss any stride towards predictability as a
waste of time.

Lines? A conquest of civilization, hope for a better humanity, prohibited
dream!

But you can have a very good pizza almost anytime...

~~~
simonebrunozzi
You and I are probably from the same country, I'd guess.

------
bartread
Reading that article felt like being stuck in a long queue. I mean, kudos for
capturing the experience so viscerally I suppose, but about a third of the way
through I reached a point where continuing became absolutely intolerable. :/

------
erikb
Nothing comes to a 50% page size cookie notification without an opt-out
option.

------
lixtra
I hate lines and usually are willing to take a slightly worse serving than a
long line. I appreciate if I can pay more to jump the line.

Why wait 1h if you can jump the line for 10 bucks.

~~~
simonebrunozzi
Paying is a bad incentive.

Similar example: poor government services become incentives to bribe officers
to "get ahead". That's why in many government offices, inefficiency or
friction is actively introduced by its officers, and doesn't just come from
the top down.

~~~
weberc2
Governments don't have competition in any meaningful sense, so they _only_
have bad incentives.

------
coleifer
Reminded me of: [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1980/11/17/within-the-
con...](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1980/11/17/within-the-context-of-
no-context)

------
Simulacra
All good things come to those who wait.

