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I was here first: Why don't people in some countries form neat, orderly lines?
If you've tried to buy a train ticket in a place like Morocco or Indonesia, you know that this seemingly simple task is actually a full-contact sport. Rather than forming an orderly, single-file line, people are forced to scratch, claw, elbow, and gouge their way to the ticket window, in a process that even an Ultimate Fighting champion would describe as unnecessarily painful and violent.
So why does this happen? Why can't people in certain, usually less-developed countries form neat, single-file lines? Here are a couple possible explanations:
1. There's no incentive for the first person to stand in line. Though forming an orderly queue might be more efficient for everyone, it's not beneficial enough to one particular person for him or her to go through the trouble of starting a line. This is a classic example of what economists call a "collective action problem," in which a group of people are given a choice and, if following their individual self-interests, will choose an action that is suboptimal for the group overall. Merging on the highway is another example: It might be in your interest to cut in line at the last second, but if everyone chooses that same thing, the results will be worse than if everyone simply waited their turn.
2. The absence of orderly lines is not that big of a deal to people in these countries. Though seemingly chaotic and unnecessary to those of us in the "West", the truth might be that these "mobs" actually work. Their structure-- or lack of it-- rewards those who want the ticket or item the most, and only displeases those who weren't industrious (or ruthless) enough to work their way up to the front. This is a form of price discrimination in which those who were willing to "pay" the most, in this case with time and effort, are rewarded, while those who weren't, aren't.
Also, even in these sorts of "mobs," there are a certain number of unwritten rules that people follow that tend to keep them approaching civility: for example, there's usually no punching, scratching, pinching, or any kind of behavior that causes lasting physical harm. Though if it's your first time experiencing an Indonesian train-ticket line, it will probably feel like a free-for-all. It isn't, but almost.
3. These countries generally have less respect for the rule of law. In countries like the US, people tend to follow rules-- even pointless ones-- because they've been raised on the maxim that "following rules is good." This is part of the reason we stop at red lights in deserted areas at 3 am, even when there's no police car in sight. This is why we walk back and forth through those red ropes at the bank, like rats chasing a piece of cheese, even when the place is virtually empty.
People in developing countries can often not afford the luxury of pointless rule-following. If they miss a train because the ticket line was too long, that could have serious consequences for them. They might miss work, earn less money, and have to struggle that much harder. There's a lot more at stake for them, so it's understandable that people would want to get to the front of the line that much faster.
4. Finally, people do what their parents did. If people are taught that mobbing a ticket booth instead of standing in line is okay (and maybe it is-- standing in line is not "objectively better"; I just happen to find it easier), it becomes very hard to transition to something else. It's all about culture. If I were raised in Morocco, I wouldn't see anything wrong with the practice, and instead of this article I'd probably have written one called, "Why can't people in certain countries just crowd around a ticket booth?"
Filed under: Arts and Culture, Africa, Asia
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jeff Aug 21st 2008 10:24AM
Great piece, Aaron.
Those in the Slavic world are the worst line formers, in my experience. Just try buying a train ticket in Ukraine or talking to a bank teller in Montenegro.
Germans, not surprisingly, are the best -- but with the annoying tendency to stand way to close to you. If you give the person in front of you the space Americans are accustomed to, Germans will assume you're not in line and step in front of you.
Jeff
David Troyer Aug 21st 2008 6:39PM
Jeff, I don't think this applies in general to Germans. I lived there 2004-2005 and got run over in the line to many a Ryan Air and Germanwings flight.
Willy Aug 21st 2008 11:35AM
Very few Africans form a proper queue, though they all know how to do it. It can be very frustrating.
In the beginning, I was uncomfortable with all the pushing. Ultimately, I became what I hated and just shoved and jumped with the best of them. Now, I'm quite good.
Interesting analysis in this piece. Thanks.
austin Aug 21st 2008 11:44AM
I've had this same problem in Italy, most places (with perhaps the exception of the grocery store) have masses instead of lines. It was quite offputting at first, but once you get used to it you can function quite well.
I asked my Italian friend about this phenomenon and he had some good insights, although even with those tips, I'd bet that a first-timer would still be a little surprised.
http://www.travellious.com/node/90
Leonardo Aug 22nd 2008 9:10AM
In Cuba they have a kind of virtual line. You just ask "el ultimo?" ( "the last?") and the last person in the line raises his hand. It is an excellent system for long lines. You know exactly your place when the line moves and you do not have to wait standing up.
Decades of Castro's dictatorship had to lead to something useful after all.
http://lmonasterio-en.blogspot.com
alanna.shaikh@gmail.com Aug 22nd 2008 10:13AM
Point two is a good one - it's not a binary situation, with either a chaotic mob or an orderly line. Some situations that appear to be chaotic mobs are actually fairly well ordered, just not in a way an outsider would recognize.
I joined what I thought was a big mess of chaos outside the Uzbek embassy in Moscow, and was very surprised to discover that the participants had a strict hierarchy based on who had arrived when. One American was actually yelled at until she left, for treating it like a free-for-all.
Aditya Rajaraman Aug 22nd 2008 11:21AM
I am not if this has to do with the law per se, and it is a big deal with regard to the fact that it is a big deal.
However, being a country like India with over a billion people, I have seen the good and the bad side. The main issue is when one realizes that no one is going to recognize them, they tend to cut lines. Why is it important for no one to know them. The answer is decency. In other countries, people are decent to everyone. IN my country, you are decent to the ones you know. As far as the rest, may they damn in hell.
The other side is when over and over again, when people have cut lines and it has been sub optimal, then over time they realize that it is not worth it and the lines begin. The best case in example is the Mumbai Suburban rail queues.
Ron Cook Aug 22nd 2008 12:02PM
The behavior is not just primarily developing countries. This summer we took a Norway cruise and the ship was 75% filled by German tourists. The cruise line had the unexplicable combination of an assigned sitting time and a buffet. This combination with German trousists resulted in Chaos with everyone deciding to start where they wanted and cutting in whereever they wanted and bumping into others and causing them to spill their food. I have been all over the world (Chile, Bali, China, Japan, Solomons, Fiji, Africa... and I had never seen behavior as bad as I had with the German tourists.
Mustafa Aug 22nd 2008 12:27PM
The issue is scarcity. People living in societies who have fewer resources are used to fighting for getting access and hence the lack of respect for lining up.
hwtclayfield Aug 22nd 2008 5:01PM
The lack of orderly line-forming can be explained simply by the application of Newton's Second Law of Thermodynamics, or
perhaps better known as the Law of Increased Entropy. We as
a world society are slowly going down the path of increased disorder and chaos and there is nothing we can do about it.
This is not an excuse but a reality.
Matt Aug 23rd 2008 12:42AM
And then there's the issue of competition and power.
I was waiting sweaty and patiently at an airport in Makassar, Indonesia, en route to West Timor, circa 2001, and there was nothing like neat orderly lines. But there were queue jumpers - a couple of TNI soldiers raced past me and shouted at the agent, barged to the window, putting their firearms and ammo up on the desk for check-in. One guy's shells fall all about and across the area, so we get more shouting and running around as he has to collect his shells. All very urgent, chaotic, and a bit stressful, even for someone who has travelled extensively in southeast asia. Anyway, apparently all resolved and these guys race off to their flight.
I do the usual process (no firearms), and make my way to the gate about an hour later. "Lounge" being a foreign concept in Sulawesi.
I get on board and who's in business class ahead of me yukking it up? Answers of the back of a postcard pse...
M
jane Aug 23rd 2008 1:45AM
Interesting observation and analysis.
To point 3): Mobbing the kiosk is actually following a rule, if the rule is to mob, rather than line up. This behavior has nothing to do with disrespect to the rule of law.
And another idea:
Patience is a virtue in highly civilized countries, so it pays to display patience by waiting in line. It is much more of a virtue to be physically strong and ruthless in the developing countries, than to be patient. There for it makes sense to display ruthlessness in the "mob" situation.
Careless Aug 23rd 2008 11:22PM
In Indonesia, cars will continue to drive through a light after it turns red until a car from the now-green street pushes its nose into traffic and threatens them with an accident. I suspect that is related to their line behavior, which would rule out #1.
#3 is certainly a factor, although I wouldn't point to the reasons behind it here as explaining much of anything. Indonesians coming to the US are flabbergasted by the fact that cars pull over so ambulances and fire trucks can drive more easily.
The simple answer is that since they don't care about people outside of their families nearly as much as Americans and people in similar countries do, they're far more willing to screw them over.
Andre Manoel Aug 24th 2008 11:10AM
In Brazil things differ depending on where you are.
Lines will form in São Paulo anywhere. If you are in the theater and just happen to be standing close enough to the entrance, a line will form after you. The same will happen on bus stops.
In Rio people crowd in front of bus doors and struggle to get inside.
I guess it is habit.
Ladyexpat Aug 26th 2008 2:54AM
If you have ever tried boarding an Air Asia flight, where there are no assigned seats, it is survival of the fastest, regardless of nationality :)
ColNF Aug 27th 2008 4:21PM
What about those who come to the US and opted to push and shove--despite the appearance of an obvious line. We had experienced that quite a bit in Disney World this summer--more so than I have in the past. We experienced quite a bit of pushing and shoving and line cutting. And when you stated that the line started back there--they just stared at you.