#AtoZChallenge - 4-20-2017 - Letter Q
Q for Queues
(Or the lack of
them!)
Why, oh why can we not stand in queues? Is it because a queue
is associated with the foreign yoke, which we threw off not-so-long ago? The
other great democracy that freed itself from the British chose to repudiate the
spelling and pronunciation of the language that they had in common.
We seem to have
rejected this simple element of order, maybe out of ego, or an inherent dislike
of regulation! Even in posh high-rises there will be that one person who walks
into a lift when there are people trying to get out.
At any shop, the counter is engulfed by customers eager to
get served first. If one stands in line, one will never reach the counter.
Sometimes, I protest when someone barges ahead of me, when it is clearly my
turn. At such times, the offender simply says, “OK, you can go first,” with a
condescending shrug, as if I am a tantrum-throwing child and he (or she) the
bigger person letting me have my way!
Let a bus trundle to a halt at the bus stop, and one can see
Darwin’s “Survival of the fittest” theory demonstrated. I am sure the scene
would have been equally chaotic at airports as well, were it not for the grim
and unbending security staff. The same is true for trains too, but the
Metro Rail has contributed a lot to inculcate in us some boarding and alighting
etiquette.
Well, we may have a
long way to go, but we are getting there---sometimes swarming and sometimes
falling in line!
Random thought: What is the purpose of that additional "u-e" in the spelling? Maybe the word itself indicates an orderly lining up of people or letters, for anything to make sense!
Random thought: What is the purpose of that additional "u-e" in the spelling? Maybe the word itself indicates an orderly lining up of people or letters, for anything to make sense!
Sometimes, people are able to wait in queues for a long time, if they really want something. And, sometimes, even if they have waited patiently on line, they go mad when they've reached the object of their desire (the hottest new toy on that most evil of shopping days, "black Friday"). Oh, and I don't know why queue has two extra letters. You're right that it could be a visual display of letters lined up in a queue. They can't go anywhere because they are blocked in by the q's long tail.
ReplyDeletePerhaps they wanted a longer word to reflect the long waits?😊
ReplyDeletePerspectives at Life & Faith in Caneyhead
I haven't had too much trouble with lines here in upstate New York, but then again, I don't get out much. Grocery and other stores are set up to facilitate orderly queues.
ReplyDeleteR is for Reptilian Elite