The queue hopping syndrome

By REV SEIK PITOI

I sat in my car at the traffic lights, having stopped just as the lights were turning red. The car in the next lane had also stopped. The lights had turned from amber (orange) to red and so we had slowed down and eventually stopped, as is normally required.
However, it was not long before a taxi came up behind the family sedan next to me, blowing its horns. The driver was angry and started yelling expletives to the driver in front.
Why was he angry? Because the driver stopped when he could easily have run the red lights, with him following, and no one would notice!
Now, the ‘poor’ taxi driver had to wait a full revolution of traffic lights before he could go! The family in the car next to me sat quietly, preferring not to be bothered by what was happening behind them.
One will notice that there is a buffer of a few seconds between the red and green lights to ensure that all traffic has ceased so those with the green can move out onto a clear street.
But if you are in Port Moresby, you will find that is not always the case. Someone jokingly said that in PNG, the lights have a different meaning. Green means ‘go’, amber (orange) means, ‘go really fast before it changes’, and red means ‘go even faster and sneak through before the greenies start filing out’!
It is amusing to watch this in play every day, but the comedy does turn into nasty accidents at times, and that is certainly no laughing matter!
My next incident was at the bank. I made some interesting observations as I sat in the queue in the bank (yes, we sat! My bank gives us the benefit of sitting in line and moving up one seat at a time as the person at the top of the queue gets called up to be served, like a case of musical chairs. The added benefit is you give your thighs a good work out from the constant sitting and standing motion all day!)
I noticed a gentleman walk past the whole waiting queue to a vacant teller booth and motion to his wantok sitting at the desk to come over. After a quiet chat, documents and cash were handed over, the transaction was made, and the gentleman left happy as the lady went back to her desk.
While murmurs of displeasure were quietly heard from some in the queue, the lady sitting next to me lamented: “Unfortunately I have no “save pes” (someone I know) working here. Otherwise, I’d do the same)!
What’s the problem? Why do we have such scenes of road rage and impatient bank customers? Apart from selfishness and intolerance that abets these incidences, I think one particular reason is that there is generally a tendency for impatience! The world is full of impatient people. These are those who cannot wait. They must have it their way now, regardless.
Sitting or standing in queues is not a Melanesian practice. We don’t queue up to catch fish, nor do we make a line at the garden. We go in when we want to, get what we want, and come out again. The only time we wait is when nature tells us to.
For example, we wait for a particular wind to blow before we sail to a certain destination. Or, we wait for a certain season before we plant, and wait for another season to harvest. When we have no control over these things, we are forced to wait.
But when the western ways were introduced to us, we were taught to stand in line and wait. So we have queues on the road for traffic, queues at the supermarket when buying food, queues at the bank and even queues to use the toilets. Not too many of us are patient people and look forward to waiting in a queue.
Usually when you have a heap of things to do and places to go to within that time, it is good to get served fast. So when faced with such a situation, we look for a way to jump the queue. Sometimes we forget the person next to us may just as be busy as we are, but he’s waiting patiently while we are getting agitated.
Problems happen when a queue jumper is spotted and there is a vocal customer in the queue who will complain loudly, causing an embarrassing scene. That, however, is not commonplace because our people have a tendency not to complain (at least, loudly)!
I myself am not much of a saint when it comes to being patient. I will be quick to tell you that I too fail in that department. I need to discipline myself every day not to hit the roof when things go wrong.
A church leader once preached and told the congregation that they needed to be patient more. He told them that was a big problem he saw and people should be like him, a very patient and forgiving man.
I admired the man and agreed that I needed to change and be more like him. But some time later, when a young person offended the leader, he threw an absolute tantrum, cursing and threatening to ‘deal with’ the youth who angered him.
He even rallied up his whole family to hate the boy. Well, that hypocrite wasn’t much of a role model for anyone after that!
I don’t have any easy answers on how to be patient but I know it is a quality God wants us to have, as it is an attribute of God Himself.
The bible says God is “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger” (Psalm 103: 8). He displayed patience to an obstinate people who didn’t appreciate His patient love (Neh 9:10), much like us.
The wise man in Proverbs advises that, “a patient man has understanding, but a quick tempered man displays folly” (Prov 14:29). God wants us to slow down the pace and be a patient people in a fast tracked world.
So when you find yourself in a queue on the road, disregard the taxi driver tearing alongside you and cutting corners dangerously just to get in front. Instead, whisper a prayer for your kids at school, or for your friend who is ill, or for the evangelism programme that is to run next week. Think of something worthwhile to do as you wait.
Finally, let’s not be queue hoppers, but let’s use the time in the queue to allow God to teach us the virtue of patience. It will do us good.
Happy waiting!

•  Rev Seik Pitoi is a freelance writer.