In the last month I have had several people tell me people in Portland love to line up. “If you want something fun to do while you’re here, just go stand somewhere and see how quickly people line up behind you; having no clue or care as to why they’re doing it. Portlanders love lines.”
As we tooled around town, and saw loads of people in a multitude of lines, we began to realize this theory may have some merit.
One day, as we walked around town, we saw a large group of people near a marquee. “what do you think is happening over there?” I asked. “Looks like a line,” MiniMe replied. “Should we make like locals and get in it?” I suggested. “Sure,” she said. About 30 minutes later, we were watching a movie.
The next day we took MiniMe to the airport so she could return home. Prior to her going through security we chatted near the screening are for about five minutes. During this time several groups of individuals lined up behind us and, subsequently, we had to tell several groups of individuals that we were not in line. The last group – approximately fifteen travelers – was the largest. “I think it’s time you get in the line you created,” I advised MiniMe. She did, and those lined up behind her patiently made their way through security.
I shared this story with I Noticed who shared an observation with me, “Lines are the reason we ended up going to a movie last night.” She was correct. It appears the queue is often the clue of what one is about to do.