The Insecure Indian
The plane lands and begins to taxi towards the terminal. There is the sound of clicks as people release their seat belts and spring to their feet, jostling each other to get to their luggage in the overhead compartments. The air hostesses announce on the PA system: "please wait until the plane has come to a complete stop and the pilot has turned off the fasten seat-belt sign." Nobody is listening. They are falling over each other in the aisles. It's like a rugby scrum. They remain scrunched up in un-physiological positions until the deplaning begins.
What are they trying to achieve? Are they afraid that someone will steal their bags? Do they think the plane will take off again if they don't get off quickly? Will they miss their taxis if they don't get out in time?
I always take a window seat and wait for the aisles to clear before moving. Much more comfortable. On rare occasions when I've had to sit in an aisle or middle seat, I have been amused by the acute anxiety of the person in the window seat who wants to join the scrum and get past this crazy person who is continuing to read his book after the plane has landed.
As I drive up to the traffic light, I slow down preparing to stop. The light is red and there are other vehicles stopped ahead. The option of breezing through the red light does not exist any more. The vehicle behind me, irritated that I'm slowing down jigs to the left, accelerates past me and swerves into my lane ahead of me and stops with a screech just short of rear-ending the vehicle ahead. Congratulations! He is waiting for the traffic light to turn green 15 feet ahead of where he would otherwise be. Quite an achievement.
We're waiting to board the flight. They announce "we're now boarding those seated in rows 21 to 30." I'm in row 27 but there is a huge scrum of people ahead of me. I settle down and wait. After all I can get on any time. The guy checking the boarding passes tries to screen some of the people but it's obvious that those seated in the front of the plane are possessed by an acute anxiety. Perhaps they think that their rows have been surreptitiously announced. Perhaps they are convinced that the people ahead of them are seated in rows even further forward than theirs. Maybe they are afraid of missing the flight altogether. So they get in. And they block the aisle as they struggle to get their luggage into the overhead compartments. Boarding takes much longer than it would if they had listened to the announcement.
I stop at the Chemist to pick up some toothpaste and mouthwash. There are two ladies there before me. I wait for them to finish. Meanwhile a couple more customers turn up. They barge past me and make their way up to the counter. They're trying to catch the eye of the guy manning the counter, competing with each other to be served first. Fortunately the guy recognises me, has noticed me waiting and asks me what I need while ignoring them. Most Indian queues are like this. People, instead of waiting behind each other, spreading out horizontally and competing to be noticed.
Why are we like this? Do we not teach children to stand in queues? Perhaps it is a distrust for each other. We're programmed to compete instead of cooperating. Maybe just a fundamental effect of our population density.
What are they trying to achieve? Are they afraid that someone will steal their bags? Do they think the plane will take off again if they don't get off quickly? Will they miss their taxis if they don't get out in time?
I always take a window seat and wait for the aisles to clear before moving. Much more comfortable. On rare occasions when I've had to sit in an aisle or middle seat, I have been amused by the acute anxiety of the person in the window seat who wants to join the scrum and get past this crazy person who is continuing to read his book after the plane has landed.
As I drive up to the traffic light, I slow down preparing to stop. The light is red and there are other vehicles stopped ahead. The option of breezing through the red light does not exist any more. The vehicle behind me, irritated that I'm slowing down jigs to the left, accelerates past me and swerves into my lane ahead of me and stops with a screech just short of rear-ending the vehicle ahead. Congratulations! He is waiting for the traffic light to turn green 15 feet ahead of where he would otherwise be. Quite an achievement.
We're waiting to board the flight. They announce "we're now boarding those seated in rows 21 to 30." I'm in row 27 but there is a huge scrum of people ahead of me. I settle down and wait. After all I can get on any time. The guy checking the boarding passes tries to screen some of the people but it's obvious that those seated in the front of the plane are possessed by an acute anxiety. Perhaps they think that their rows have been surreptitiously announced. Perhaps they are convinced that the people ahead of them are seated in rows even further forward than theirs. Maybe they are afraid of missing the flight altogether. So they get in. And they block the aisle as they struggle to get their luggage into the overhead compartments. Boarding takes much longer than it would if they had listened to the announcement.
I stop at the Chemist to pick up some toothpaste and mouthwash. There are two ladies there before me. I wait for them to finish. Meanwhile a couple more customers turn up. They barge past me and make their way up to the counter. They're trying to catch the eye of the guy manning the counter, competing with each other to be served first. Fortunately the guy recognises me, has noticed me waiting and asks me what I need while ignoring them. Most Indian queues are like this. People, instead of waiting behind each other, spreading out horizontally and competing to be noticed.
Why are we like this? Do we not teach children to stand in queues? Perhaps it is a distrust for each other. We're programmed to compete instead of cooperating. Maybe just a fundamental effect of our population density.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-S-aIAgYhc
ReplyDeleteThis summarises it best. It's not about queuing but about winning -_- .
So true! What you teach is what you get.
DeleteYesterday, I faced a similar situation at an ATM nearby. Even though I was standing in the queue, people who came later were trying to make their way first. At first, I tried to just block the people trying to enter without waiting, but when people started to push telling me to get inside (when someone else was already using the machine?) Or give way, I had to give them an earful that it's not advisable to enter when the ATM is being used and people should learn to stand in the queue according to their arrival time. What made me cringe was that there was an educated senior citizen in among those people moreover he was the one most restless.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you sir regarding these experiences of yours. I even appreciate the way you have calmly tackled these situations. But one very bitter and exhausting experience that I wish to share here is about the the engg admission process going on in Mumbai right now. Since I have my vacations after my university exams I was assigned by my parents to complete some admission formalities for my younger brother who wishes to pursue engg. I thought it to be a cakewalk since I was naive about the admission process of Engg. I reach the Admission Reporting Centre which is VJTI Mumbai and to my surprise I find the line to be about 2 KM long.Completely going according to the norms I join the line dissapointed. But guess what, after 1 hr of standing in the rains of Mumbai I see people who came real late barging inside cutting through the queue making us look like a foo and get their work done. Now since this was an important task with a deadline set by the authorising body TIME was of utmost importance.
ReplyDeleteSO WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE IN SUCH A SITUATION SIR?
I don't really see a solution at that point. Ideally the authorities should have planned the process better but perhaps that is too much to expect.
Delete