Dislike waiting in line, but not because of impatience

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eric76
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03 Feb 2013, 11:50 pm

ral31 wrote:
I can't stand waiting in line, even at the drive thru. I'll go inside rather than go through the drive thru.


I stood in line between cars at a Taco Hell drive-through once.

I was working late and the the Taco Bell was just across the street so I walked instead of drove. But when I got to the door, it was locked. It turned out that the dining area was closed at something like 10 or 11 pm while the drive-through was open until one or two am.

It felt kind of odd standing in line with cars in front and cars in back. The workers inside were surprised when I got to the window.

A few years later, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen did the same:

Allen is an enthusiast of epic proportions, but one of my fondest images of him was from the 20th anniversary party for the Altair 8800 computer (arguably the first PC), when Paul Allen-the-billionaire wanted some fast food late at night and -- not having a car -- WALKED through the drive-through as part of a long line of cars.



windtreeman
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04 Feb 2013, 12:56 am

I hate it. I was waiting in line today at Walmart, to return something and it took forever! The longer I waited, the more angry I felt. Suddenly, the people in front of me, or those slowest to complete their transactions, became my enemies and thanks to my insane compulsion control, I managed to get through it without any outbursts. I'm not patient but I'm also not belligerently unstable so I have no idea why I feel so irritated. I suppose, I hate the 'pressure' of people behind me and, like the OP, the unknowns. In fact, I suspect that if the employees announced everything they were doing as they did them and consequently, there was never a question in my mind as to what was taking someone so long, I'd feel substantially better.


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jk1
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04 Feb 2013, 1:59 am

Yes.

Uncertainty certainly adds a daunting factor to the waiting.

I also don't like the fact that I'm wasting time doing such an uncomfortable thing as standing. If I'm sitting it's not as bad. Maybe that's because of my chronic backache.

I hate it particularly when there are multiple lines, any of which you could join, such as at a supermarket, and then it turns out that your line is the slowest, often because the price of someone's purchased item is registered wrongly or something. The people who joined the other lines later than you did yours end up finishing before you. I get very angry when this happens, though I don't show it. I wish those places made only one line and let the next customer go to the next available checkout/till/etc.



b9
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04 Feb 2013, 2:19 am

the other day, i was in a takeaway food shop, and the servant failed to notice me.
she took 3 orders from people in front of me and then began cleaning the counter which i tolerated for a few minutes, but then she started putting drinks in the fridge and i lost my temper and said "well considering you're not interested in my order, i'll go to the shop at lawson !" (about 2 km away).

thinking back on it, i should have just said "excuse me but can i make an order", but i was so impatient and annoyed that i stormed out of the shop. she may have thought my order was already taken, and considering her boss (i assume) was close by, it may have made her look incompetent since she ignored a customer who took his cash to a rival. it was a pity because it was a shop that i regularly frequent.
i wonder if they will be terse with me next time i go there?



eric76
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04 Feb 2013, 2:30 am

b9 wrote:
the other day, i was in a takeaway food shop, and the servant failed to notice me.
she took 3 orders from people in front of me and then began cleaning the counter which i tolerated for a few minutes, but then she started putting drinks in the fridge and i lost my temper and said "well considering you're not interested in my order, i'll go to the shop at lawson !" (about 2 km away).

thinking back on it, i should have just said "excuse me but can i make an order", but i was so impatient and annoyed that i stormed out of the shop. she may have thought my order was already taken, and considering her boss (i assume) was close by, it may have made her look incompetent since she ignored a customer who took his cash to a rival. it was a pity because it was a shop that i regularly frequent.
i wonder if they will be terse with me next time i go there?


When I was an undergraduate, I would often take my books with me to House of Pancakes (a 24 hour US chain restaurant) and study while I ate. One evening I walked in and sat down. A couple of hours later, I had finished my homework without being served at all! So I just got up and said hi to the waitresses as I left.



opal
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04 Feb 2013, 5:37 am

I hate it because of the sensory issues. If I am last in the grocery que it is OK because I can put some distance between me and the customer in front . But if it is a long que and there is someone behind me, chances are they will be standing on my heels, or knocking me with their trolley, or yelling at their kid via my auditory canal. It drives me nuts. Personal space! Please respect it!



MissMoneypenny
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04 Feb 2013, 8:53 am

There are a couple of things I hate about waiting in line.

One is when other people who are not waiting in line want to get past and push their way through the line to get to the other side. They could pick any point in the line to get past, but why do they always have to shove past me? I commented on this to someone one day and he said, "It's probably because you leave a gap," but I find this highly unlikely as I have no sense of personal space and if anything will be standing too close to the person in front. It's as if other people have more "presence" for them and therefore they think they can shove me out of the way with impunity.

The other thing I hate is when I have reached the front of the queue and all the available cashiers are busy. I tend to zone out if I have to wait more than a few seconds, and I really hate it when the person behind me suddenly says something or taps me on the shoulder because a cashier has become free and I've been off somewhere in my head. I mean, don't they ever get bored or daydream?



albeniz
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04 Feb 2013, 9:04 am

So I think we can divide the unpleasantness into two categories that correspond with aspergers traits:

(1) Sensory, being surrounded by people, noise that seems to accompany a line. In this case the line is nothing special, it could also be waiting for a bus or something in a confined space with a group of people, or maybe standing in a lift.

(2) Uncertainty/anxiety, not knowing how much time it will take to complete whatever one is waiting for, the anxiety of having to interact with whoever is waiting at the front of the queue, what to say to them etc., the anxiety of waiting for a late bus/train and what problems this may cause if it doesn't arrive soon (perhaps not specific to aspergers but exacerbated).

Impatience I'll take as being not specific to aspergers but possibly exacerbated due to general anxiety - in general no one likes waiting, fullstop.



b9
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04 Feb 2013, 9:19 am

albeniz wrote:
So I think we can divide the unpleasantness into two categories that correspond with aspergers traits:

(1) Sensory, being surrounded by people, noise that seems to accompany a line. In this case the line is nothing special, it could also be waiting for a bus or something in a confined space with a group of people, or maybe standing in a lift.

(2) Uncertainty/anxiety, not knowing how much time it will take to complete whatever one is waiting for, the anxiety of having to interact with whoever is waiting at the front of the queue, what to say to them etc., the anxiety of waiting for a late bus/train and what problems this may cause if it doesn't arrive soon (perhaps not specific to aspergers but exacerbated).

Impatience I'll take as being not specific to aspergers but possibly exacerbated due to general anxiety - in general no one likes waiting, fullstop.

i think it is a waste of time for you to have worked your way to your conclusion.