�What causes queues?� :: Mmegi Online

Who or what causes queues? Are queues caused by the sheer number of customers? Are those queues we see at banks at the end of each month, the queues that leave the building, exit the shopping centre and snake through the car park there just because that bank has so many customers? Are that bank’s queues just an effect of their success?

Maybe people actually enjoy queueing. It might sound ridiculous, but many people have told me this. They’ve said that there’s something either in our culture or in our personal nature that actually enjoys spending time away from home or the office in long lines to get service. I’m not so sure. I’ve never actually met anyone who told me that they themselves enjoy it, it’s always been some mythical other person who enjoys it.

Last week I posed the question on Facebook. I asked what members thought was the reason for queues and we got a range of responses. Many of them blamed customers themselves.

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