Lines [Pet Peeves]

Credit: Nothing To Do With Arbroath

With exceptions for the elderly, pregnant, and the disabled, I get annoyed by people cutting in line. Earlier today, I fell in line to buy lottery tickets (don't ask me for lucky numbers - the most I got correct was 3). I actually took a bit of time to fix the line somewhat because it wasn't immediately clear where the end was, but everyone in front of me were pleasant, and we even made small banter about hoping some luck fall our way.

So far, so good. As soon as the guy in front of me finished buying his ticket, some jerk of a lady suddenly slid her lottery picks in front of me, and the sales clerk, who just turned around after putting the previous guy's money in the cash drawer, mistakenly took the jerk's ticket, thinking it was mine and started to process it.

"Ate, sana unahin niyo po itong sa akin kasi hindi nakapila yang bastos sa tabi ko." ("Ma'am, I hope you process my tickets first because those tickets are of the rude lady beside me.")

Jerk shot back, indignantly I might add: "E mag-do-draw na e!" ("But it's nearing draw time!")

Side Note: The Philippines has a fatalistic society and the government, armed with that knowledge, made it so that there's at least one main lottery everyday, and smaller lotteries every 15 minutes or so. The jerk in question is trying to beat the clock for the next draw.

I replied, "Wala akong paki, bastos ka." ("I don't give a damn, you're rude.")

The jerk then tried to slip a twenty-peso note while the sales clerk was processing my tickets. I took the bill and slid it back towards her.

"Bastos ka talaga ate." ("You're really rude.")

The sales clerk gave me my tickets and change, then I told her that the four people behind me should be served first because they're the ones in line and not asshole over to my side. And I left, but not before noticing that everyone behind me were looking at me, as if I'm the one who's crazy.

It's actually not the rude lady that prompted me to write this. Selfish jerks are a dime a dozen here (hello mean streets of Manila!). It's that everyone else behind me who were also being disadvantaged by that jerk thought it best to keep quiet and just accept the douchebaggery that's being done to them.

You could say that, yes, it's just some damn lottery ticket line. For me, it's the principle of having discipline. And to be honest, if we really want to make progress, we absolutely need to have general discipline and respect for others.

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This reminds me of an even worse situation that I had to handle a few years ago.

In 2010 (details might be hazy because OLD), a non-profit group who built an authentic galleon were touring their kick-ass ship around the region, and one of the stops in their itinerary was the Philippines. They worked with the National Historical Institute (NHI) to have a two-day event in Manila (and I think a couple more days in the Visayas region) where people could see and visit the ship for free. Good gesture, and a big deal for a country who has had a long history with galleons a few centuries ago.

Supposedly our mangoes came from the galleon trade. Not sure if that's true, though. (Credit: Panlasang Pinoy)

Because I was a photography nut back then, I figured that that would be an awesome opportunity to take pictures of something different. So I played hooky from work to go to the seaport early in the morning (I was there about 7 AM - 6:30 AM actually, but was only let in at 7 because I didn't ride a taxi or a private vehicle going in, WOO EQUALITY!). There's a temporary holding area, essentially a converted gymnasium, where the NHI people could put people in groups before dispatching them to where the ship was. Fair enough, since no matter how big the ship was, it certainly won't be able to hold every person who wanted to see it all at once. The line snaked towards that holding area.

Around 9 AM, there was already a long queue of walk-ins wanting to see the ship, but so far, so good. I even made friends with the nice family in front of me, whose kids were so eager to see the ship, one of them even dressed as a pirate. Cute.

These aren't my kids, and this is a ranty post, so I thought it best to obscure their faces.

Around 10 AM, only a scant few of the walk-ins were able to go in. There were some of us already in the holding area, but it can't hold us all, so most were still lined up outside. I wasn't early enough to be part of the initial number of walk-ins already chilling inside the holding area. To be fair, the NHI did say in their ads that there would be school groups with reserved slots the first day.

The line was moving, but painfully slow. It's fine. It's the price we walk-ins pay for taking our chances today (the next day would be the free-for-all for everyone, no reservations, but it's also a Saturday). All this time, I, the fierce auntie of the adorable eager kids, and one architect guy (if I recall correctly) were staving off a number of groups trying to cut in our area - two separate groups of student sailors, a family who made their housemaid fall in line at 6:30 AM while they arrived at 10, a couple of random groups of friends, and a number of individuals who used the a favorite tactic amongst Filipinos of feigning to just be curious as to what the fuss is about and then inserting themselves in the line.

Our line stopped moving around 10:30. There were groups with reservations coming in, sure, but not so many that there wouldn't be time for walk-ins then (and the NHI also did advertise that walk-ins would also be entertained that day). The adorable kids were already tired, so the auntie decided to just take her niece and nephew to Star City. Around 10:45, I decided to check and see what the hold-up is. I requested my new-found acquaintance to hold my spot while I go check.

The line behind me.

Heading towards the front, it's chaos. The line opened up three-wide, then four, then a simply unorganized mass in front, with even more of the "curious cutters" pushing themselves in. The doors to the holding area were locked, with many in this mass of humanity already ranting about wanting to be let in, and some pushing already happening. I politely asked my way to the front, having to assure groups of people that no, I'm not cutting in their line, and yes, I'm working for all of us. Surprisingly, I was able to work my way towards the front without having to push.

I sought an audience with one NHI member inside, but I had to convince the guard at the other side of the locked doors that I just wanted to talk to someone in charge to see what the hold-up was, since you could see through the glass doors that there were available seats inside the holding area (i.e. they can accommodate people). She told me that they're not letting any walk-ins inside unless we all start becoming disciplined. I can understand her trepidation, and if I had to guess, probably some undisciplined louts tried to push their way through the doors earlier.

Here's where the NHI stumbled. They had guards inside and on the path leading to the ship itself, but they had no one policing the lines outside, and a number of the guards in the port area were hands-off on the event. There were two guards just near the holding area where the massed people are who seemed to take amusement from the chaos happening in front of them. I can't blame these guards, since they're the seaport's private guards, and if their orders are to guard such-and-such door, that's what they should do. The NHI, on the other hand, could've enlisted the help of the PNP/some other security agency/volunteers to keep things orderly in the line outside.

Anyway, I expressed to the NHI lady that okay, I understand her and can work with that.

So that's the sort-of ultimatum. The problem is that the mass of people just outside the doors were a complete mess, and I have no idea which people are legitimately in line, and which aren't. And there's the problem of no enforcers to set the line straight.

Around this point, I was so frustrated, and I wanted to see the ship so bad. With a sense of determination ("Fuck it, I played hooky at work to see this shit!"), anger energizing me (see previous quote in parenthesis), and restraining myself enough to market myself as a "I'm-just-like-you-but-you-really-need-to-listen-to-me" guy to the masses, I started bellowing and calling for everyone's attention, at least to all 80 or so at the front. I must've modulated my voice well enough that they started to listen, and explained to them the situation. Using the carrot ("We get to see the ship if we're good boys and girls!") and stick ("We won't if we're chaotic!") approach, I surprisingly was able to get to them, and so I started asking them to create one line.

The people started to merge themselves into one line, but that wasn't good enough. I went around and encouraged them to recall who the people in front of them were earlier, and in doing so, we were able to sniff out cutters and guilt-tripped/intimidated them into going away. As I moved towards the back, we were able to get back to that visible line again, and the NHI lady, pleased with how things are then, started to let walk-ins back in.

I was able to get in the holding area before lunch, so that was good. Pleased with being assured of getting a chance to board the ship, I enjoyed the small history talk from the NHI that each group was given.

SANCTUARY! SANCTUARY!

No, I'm not expecting you to hail me at this point. Anyone with pent-up frustration, anger, and serious determination to reach a goal can do what I did. I'm not special. And there's a little bit more to the story.

Here's the kicker. The NHI temporarily shut down the area for lunch break. Each visitor was given a colored band corresponding to their group, so we're free to head out for lunch and come back to our spots inside afterwards (we're also free to stay put and just relax). As I headed towards the door to go outside and get lunch, the nice, organized line I worked so hard to fix has once again devolved into a chaotic mess.

I forgot to take a photo of the earlier crowd, but if you need a visual, it looks like this, minus the gap on the right for people leaving to get lunch.

Fuck that shit.

Two of my friends went the next day, and though the crowds were bigger (as to be expected for a free galleon viewing on a Saturday), they supposedly had better organization that day

For reference, this is day 2, and the line going in already snakes outside the seaport's gates (seen in the distance).

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And then there was this one time when I was in line for immigration in Bangkok back in 2008. The lines were long, and there was this Arabic(?) guy who tried to cut in front of me (which is weird because he was just behind me, if I recall correctly). I engaged him and told him to go behind me. Being the asshole that he is, he claims that he's really in front of me. We went back and forth up until the big African-American in front of both of us turned and told the asshole to go back in a very intimidating voice.

That worked extremely well, since the douchebag was scared shitless enough to not just go back to his original spot, but towards the actual end of our line. That American dude was awesome, and I thanked him to which he nodded his head, smiled, and told me "No problem.". He went out of his way to help me even when he isn't really affected by the d-bag's shenanigans. Compare and contrast Mr. Awesome to the people behind me in the lottery ticket line who stayed silent and the hundreds of people at the front of the galleon line who let cutters in and had to be encouraged to weed them out.

Sometimes I just think we're too forgiving with a lot of things, so much so that a number of "enterprising" people will try and push the envelope on how much more shit we can take, complete with smiles on our faces. I get that there are times when you should just turn the other cheek, but letting people cut in lines for no valid reason aren't such times.