The double door phenomenon happens every day at my university. The A&A building (other buildings don’t seem to have this problem, at least not as bad) has several sets of double doors, but only one door from each pair is ever open, with people trying to jostle through going both ways. What’s worse, I follow their example 99% of the time.
Baa.
Sometimes while stopped at a red light at the head of one lane of a multi-lane road, my dad will deliberately creep forward a foot or two just to watch as the guy in the next lane inevitably follows suit. As with the stepping forward in line stories, all the cars behind him probably creep forward, too.
Speaking of people forming lines, a Pakistani friend the other day mentioned a little saying that went: “Put ten Americans in a room and they’ll form a line.” It didn’t seem apt at the time because it was inspired by a checkout line at a department store (why wouldn’t there be a line for that, after all?), but reading the sheep stories here, I’m thinking that it probably is true.
I’ll go to a lane with 1-3 cars rather than an open one if I don’t have my money ready. It gives me a bit more time and I don’t block better-prepared people.
HInt for the next you’re in Mickey Mouse’s house: always use the left lane. It’s usually open, but will be half the length of the right lane.
To be fair, I’ve only been on one flight where there was a round of applause, and it was because we’d flown through a nasty storm while circling the airport and it was a scary few minutes. I think the applause was more, “Thank the deity of your choice that we’re on the ground alive!” than, “Yay! They can land the plane!”
What gets me is when people applaud at movies. This makes sense if anybody involved with making the movie is there, but unless you’re in Los Angeles the chances are damn good nobody is. So why applaud???
I think it’s a quick way to interact with the rest of the audience and say to each other: “I really liked this movie, and had a blast!”. I guess people are ovecome by the feeling they should communicate somehow with a group of people they’ve known at the end of an hour and a half. Plus when you want to reccomend the movie to someone else, saying “The entire theater loved it! They actually cheered when it was over.” is bit more of a powerfull statement than “I loved it!”.
Heh heh. I think when I go out today, when I get into a big crowd, I’m going to look up at the sky and see how many other people I can get to look up too. Good times, good times.
Ooh, I’d do stuff like that in high school all the time. Go hang out outside (or inside, if you don’t mind a possible exchange of words with the management) the movie theater or mall, someplace crowded. Get a few friends with you, and start gaping at something - on the ground, in the parking lot, up in the sky, whatever. Within a few minutes people will be struggling to see whatever’s so awesome.
I still love the idea of starting a line to nowhere. I mean, if there are a bunch of people gawking at something, it might be reasonable to try to find out what, but why on earth would you stand in line without knowing what for?
You’re the Emperor of the World?
mmmmm … Anyone else hungry for a gyro/kebob right about now?
I’ll admit to being one of those who clapped when a jet landed, but with extenuating circumstances: On Ireland’s Aer Lingus flights into JFK. The flights are almost always very smooth, the seating is comfortable, the food is good as is the entertainment, the in-flight staff are professional and friendly, and (back in the days of unlimited free booze) we were all pretty much liquored up. We clapped to show our appreciation for the entire non-sucking experience.
Did I mention free booze?
There’s a freeway on-ramp in Seattle (from the 405 South onto the 90 West) where the ramp does a smooth S-curve just before it merges. But the thing is about 2.5 carwidths wide–so you can drive it in a straight shot down the center.
BUT, every single time I drove it, every single car would get up against the line on the left side and follow the curve exactly. No one but me wanted to be the guy who would be so audacious as to just drive frickin straight.
Weirded me the hell out every time.
If these are the exit doors at a movie theater or other public building, it’s safe to assume that all of them are unlocked, (as required by the fire code).
What amazed me was when I was entering Barnes & Noble through the right of the double doors at the entrance, and a couple exiting waited for me so they could use the same door instead of simply exiting through the door on their right. It’s happened more than once.
I sometimes wait because I don’t want to hit the people coming in with the door I’m exiting through.
The line thing reminds me of waiting for a bus in London. I had arrived at the stop about ten minutes before the next bus was due, so I got a book out and read as I stood around. I wasn’t really paying attention to my surroundings and I was shocked when the bus arrived - there were four people standing behind me in a tidy queue.
I was discussing the British queue fetish with an English person and related this anecdote. He didn’t get at all why I thought it was funny. Culture clash moment!
If lining up is sheep behavior, Israelis are the least sheepish people on earth. They couldn’t queue up if their lives depended on it. A friend of mine once told me that the most useful thing he learned in Israel was that he never needed to stand in line again.
Nah. People are cattle. Sheep are really dumb, but at least they can be led. Cattle are really really dumb and have to be herded.
Many moons ago, when I was young and naive enough to believe that humans were actually intelligent, I found myself working in a movie theater (this was in South Bend, IN, during the Reagan/Bush I era, when the economic recovery had made good-paying jobs so plentiful that college grads easily found work at the front counter at Mickey D’s).
The concession stand on a busy Saturday afternoon was great, especially when I was working the end register. The place would be packed, people waiting in lines so long that they would be backed up to the lobby walls. Except for my end register. I would wait on maybe one or two customers, then, emptiness. Of course, nobody in line at the next register over would come get into my line. I would call out “I can help someone down here!” No response. The cattle would stay in the lines they were already in. “**I can help someone down here!!!” I would call, and receive no reply, except for the lowing sounds of the customers who were determined to stay in the lines they were already in. “I CAN HELP SOMEONE DOWN HERE!!!” I would cry, and people would stand immobile, quietly chewing their cud. Finally, the girl at the next register over would start frantically waving at the customers in her line and yell, “She can help you over there!!”. Finally, two or three of the dozens of customers would come to my register, I would serve them, and the whole process would start all over again.
Invariably, the manager (equally bovine in character to the customers) would come over and bitch at me, “You’re supposed to call the customers over.” I never needed to answer, the girls at the next two registers would chime in chorus, “She did!”
This is the simple answer for the door problem. People are too damn lazy to push or pull a door for themselves.