David Andrews (16)
Auteur van Why Does the Other Line Always Move Faster?: The Myths and Misery, Secrets and Psychology of Waiting in Line
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Nothing is too trivial in this world to avoid study. In this case, standing in line. David Andrews examines it from most conceivable angles and finds it to be odious when overdone, as in the army, or a necessary convention when there are simply too many people needing the undivided attention of a person or a machine. Most of us, having started in with lines in kindergarten, are fairly tolerant of them. There are always exceptions.
The best part of the book examines the culture of linestanding in Eastern Europe, where Russians used to spend one third of their day standing in lines, where Poles would join a line having no idea what was in store, but not wanting to miss out. They had special committees which regulated how long you had to stand in line before you could take a break without losing your place. The Poles even invented a board game based on collecting all the groceries by standing in lines. People used children, infirmities, and age to jump the queue, but it still beat the crushing crowd syndrome where no space between bodies was tolerated.
And then there’s the outsized role McDonald’s played in teaching the Chinese to stand in line.
Although the book seems exhaustive, Andrews does not mention the off Broadway play “Line”, which has been running about 45 years now. It is a visual representation of this book. Nor does he delve much into the lines we form in our cars, in bumper to bumper traffic, at toll plazas, in event parking. Hard to believe, but there’s actually more to say about standing in lines than in these 200 pages.
David Wineberg… (meer)
The best part of the book examines the culture of linestanding in Eastern Europe, where Russians used to spend one third of their day standing in lines, where Poles would join a line having no idea what was in store, but not wanting to miss out. They had special committees which regulated how long you had to stand in line before you could take a break without losing your place. The Poles even invented a board game based on collecting all the groceries by standing in lines. People used children, infirmities, and age to jump the queue, but it still beat the crushing crowd syndrome where no space between bodies was tolerated.
And then there’s the outsized role McDonald’s played in teaching the Chinese to stand in line.
Although the book seems exhaustive, Andrews does not mention the off Broadway play “Line”, which has been running about 45 years now. It is a visual representation of this book. Nor does he delve much into the lines we form in our cars, in bumper to bumper traffic, at toll plazas, in event parking. Hard to believe, but there’s actually more to say about standing in lines than in these 200 pages.
David Wineberg… (meer)
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I really enjoyed this book. It is a fast read, and not one that requires any specialized background, making it an easy read. At the same time this book takes on some science and math concepts along the way while exploring the social and psychological sides to queues and the behavior of lines in the military, in historical times of scarcity, and in various pop cultural situations like theme parks and fast food restaurants.