I feel Mr Blobby’s stomach touching my back as he tries to squeeze through to get to another queue, Sweaty Sally breathing down my neck, seeing Danny Dandruff’s hair follicles in front of me and smelling Billy Bad Breath’s breath as he turns to complain in loud whispers about the service.
Oh, the sheer agony of standing in a queue and having to wait to pay a municipal account.
I absolutely dread the end of the month, my loins full of anguish just at the mere thought of having to stand and wait.
The best feeling is that single, yet short step forward, closer to your turn, closer to the exit, closer to your freedom.
Probably the worst is not knowing whether the system will still be online, if you eventually reach the front, so you cross your fingers and say silent prayers.
I am a bit of a germaphobe and one of the traits is that I value my personal space, somewhat of a rarity when queuing.
My skin just crawls in confined spaces where more than four people’s lungs expand and contract at the same time.
Is it only me or do we all put on our I-will-kill-you-face if someone seems to be passing the queue to go over and talk to a person near the front?
I don’t know, maybe I just need to loosen-up a bit more… and I will, as soon as the cleaning lady begins to vacuum in my vicinity.
Have you ever noticed the way the cleaning lady eyeballs you when she’s just mopped the floor, and you, due to the fact that there are no other routes to follow, audaciously walk through her meticulously spring-cleaned scene?
With each faint splosh you feel the knives penetrating your skin, I digress…
We are creatures of habit, even so, every time I queue, whether at an ATM, the municipality or the doctor’s office, I cannot help, but wish I was somewhere else.
But, today I had an epiphany, we all have things to do, places to be, people to see as the old saying goes.
Sometimes the bubble wherein we find ourselves, also limits us to experience life and all its intricacies, as well as the people who cross our paths.
Mr Blobby might have a sugar resistance and have been trying tirelessly to lose weight, Sally has been up all night tending to her sick baby and had to run out to buy electricity, so they could take a warm bath, Danny has self-confidence issues over his dandruff, and Billy… well Billy, just needs to brush his damn teeth.
The point is, we tend to judge quickly, perhaps next time you find yourself in a long queue, think about every person’s story and change the way you view them.
Something as cumbersome as standing in a queue, can also bring forth enlightenment.
