queue sera sera

Queue, Whats that ? A question one wouldn’t expect even a kid to ask. One who preaches that the world is eventually headed towards chaos will perceive the Queue with awe. For it opposes all that he has he has learned, read and preached . People standing one behind the other often unperturbed and all of them very hopeful of they getting a chance pretty soon. This is something which might lead the chaos guy to question the credibility of all that he had believed in.

Group of people patiently waiting for something to happen to them; something pleasant like a bus which might never come, or perhaps something bad like some cyclone to blow them away or even more catastrophic their fate to be decreed to them by God on Doomsday.

Amazing, does it not feel like? (Might be highly subjective.)

Queue is an amazing indeed. For it had managed to subdue the mob instincts of people and install in them some ethics into the adamant minds of humans. It tends to tell him/ her that the fun in waiting for something for a long time and attaining it cannot be achieved any other way. If one pulls in utility and all the economics one knows

Utility gained by waiting in a queue for something > Utility gained by fighting for something > Utility gained by getting something delivered to u

And people don’t bother thinking a lot over the above in-equation. For the guy who said it was later proved to be a lunatic as per the verdict of a jury of lunatics.(yeah , foreman included)

There is nothing as funny as being in a queue. Having said that there is nothing that tests ones patience as a queue would.

The guy standing in front of you will at least have some 3 bags to manage. He will have be always trying to find the optimum way of handling the bags. He will bend down at times and try to relieve the pressure his hands and legs are subjected to, and that I think will be periodic. And in the process he will manage to push u behind a bit much to your discomfort. Else he will give one the bags a full swing as the amateur golfer would. And the bag will come hit straight at your face which u will avoid thanks to some good reflexes. A apology will be thrown at you even faster in both instances.

The guy standing behind you will be suffering from all the ailments that one can possibly think of. He will sneeze ,cough , breathe heavily and at times end up placing his chin right over your shoulder. If he happens to have a mobile in his hand , then consider urself dead. He will speak so loud that at times it sounds worse than the alarm in your room. Or worse he will always get a week old news paper and try to make out what went wrong with his stars last week. You might, at times, even contemplate leaving the queue. But you stay on.

In walks a man who is all skepticism can be.Or even more! He will go on asking everyone in the queue whether the queue is for a specific purpose. After one round of interrogation , he will stand right in front of you and contemplate if he must join the queue or not. That will be stopping u from getting a glimpse of the evening news being displayed on the plasma screen. Expect no apologies, for they are hard to come by.

Rarely you will have some kids in the queue who will manage to amuse you throught the tedious waiting. You will manage to give the kid a big smile and grab the attention of the kid. But the kid will select that moment to give out his best cry , as if it had been waiting for that moment all its life. And u are rendered helpless. Suddenly you become this person who has no respect for children and you are forced into giving an apology.

Apologies received <= Apologies given

I am no sadist, but i must say that the displeasure that gets generated out of the counter closing down for a lunch break or the tickets getting over when u are the next person to avail the opportunity. You are better of if u take that and just move on with your life.

The advent and use of softwares to manage almost all manual jobs has lead to change in most of the customary practices apart from rendering a few men and women jobless. But the queue has managed to find its way into that domain as well. And the name is still queue.

Doubters, refer Data Structures and be satiated.