Q2

After posting about Queuing in my entry "Q Q Q Q Q", I was pleasantly surprised when an article came up on Sunday Times (28 Jan 2007 article) titled “Great Singapore Q” by Michelle Tay.

It was an article on Singaporeans who would queue up for their favourite food or die-die-must-have goodies. The twin national pastimes of shopping and eating have bred a third : queuing.

What caught my eye was this comment made by one of the people interviewed :
She stood in line for an hour and 45 minutes to buy 5 dozen donuts because she had read about the outlet in LifeStyle last week.
Her daughter was with her on her day off. Both stood patiently in line “just to find out if the donuts are as good as reported”. Unfortunately, “they were just so-so.”

How many of us have similar experience?

We follow the crowd and join the queue to get something everyone is raving about. E.g.

• eat a famous food, watch a movie,
• buy the latest model of car,
• get the hottest property

Yet when we get the thing we have been queuing up for, we find that it is not as great as people had made up to be. The food is so-so. The show is good but could be better.

This is called the follow-the-herd mentality. Well, there is nothing wrong with it. Sometimes, we do need to help us make choices especially in things we are not so sure about.

However, I think it can become a problem when you waste too much of your time, money and effort on it. For the things we are queuing up for are only temporal and the satisfaction they gives us are not everlasting :

• the food only tastes good while in your mouth
• the movies can bring tears or joy while you are watching it
• the car would be scarped in 10 years time
• the house may be nice but it is the people living in it that made the difference.
  

At the end of the day, let queue up for the RIGHT stuff : Things that last and have more lasting value !

Found a you-tube video that shows in a funny way what I am trying to say. Enjoy!