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Why Brits Shouldn’t Love a Queue
When will we learn that free doesn’t mean free?
Apparently, Brits love to queue, but not me. This Brit hates queues.
In my Grandad’s time, queuing for rations was necessary. Queuing without a sense of fairness and orderliness was unheard of. Waiting for one’s turn was the proper behaviour when wartime meant supplies were meagre. An orderly queue was the embodiment of the British culture, and as Churchill knew, and explained when visiting Harrow school in Oct 1941, whatever the task, we Brits would ‘…make up their minds that the thing has to be done and the job put through and finished, then, even if it takes months — if it takes years — they do it.’
With the benefit of modern living, I now see queues as points of failure.
Entry points are too narrow, or capacities insufficient to handle demand. Bottlenecks squeeze the flow, conveniently overlooking the human needs behind the service being offered. Others see a queue as a success. Shareholders see their dividends increase when the scales of supply and demand are weighted in favour of the latter.
Queues have also become more sophisticated. You don’t have to find yourself standing in a long line anymore. Most places provide seating, and sometimes, a ticket system or audible announcement gives you your position or current queue time.
No one complains. There are mutterings, frowns, eye rolls, and even the trading of ‘war stories’ when those queuing are together. There is no hoisting of a mutineer’s flag. Only stoic acceptance…especially when the service is free.
Have you noticed that the quickest-selling items on Facebook Marketplace are the ‘free’ ones? My mother-in-law will accept anything if it’s free. It doesn’t matter how scuffed, scratched, broken, and unworking it is. It’s free. My wife highlights these flaws to her Mum, who, even while nodding in agreement, will still justify these by saying ‘But it’s free.’
That four-letter word becomes like a blindfold across our eyes.
It’s the ultimate defence for both the seller and the buyer. Regardless of how bad it can be, it doesn’t matter, it was free. I see family and friends live in ignorance of the true cost. ‘But it’s free’ is pitched…
