Waiting in line

From "Scenes from Egypt"

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After 9 years in the US, one of the things I realized I take for granted is: waiting in line.

People like to complain about the DMV, but I really appreciate the fact that you can walk in, stand in line, and eventually talk to someone & then you're done.

Here's how it works here:

• A crowd of people standing in a semicircle at the government agent's window
• Everyone is trying to elbow in
• My approach historically has been to stand at the edge of the crowd, and when someone is elbowing in front of me, I look sad and hope they pity me and wait behind me
• Men won't cut-in in front of women, but other women will

Finally, you make it to the front. The agent now has to pick, which one of the 2-3 people squeezing in front of the little window in front of them should they address? The answer is often: all. You give them your documents, they say "where is X?" and while you fish that out, they're taking the other person's documents and working on that.

If you are loud & obnoxious, you'll most likely get your paperwork done first, because the agent can't focus with all your noise and just wants to finish your stuff quickly & get it over with. Unless it backfires and the agent decides to turn around for a few minutes and sip his coffee while everyone calms down.

Read more Scenes from Egypt.

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