Today, I’m thinking about waiting on lines. NOT being online, but physically waiting in a line. During the lockdown, I remember a particular rainy morning, when I stood in a—carefully marked off for social distance—line outside the Whole Foods at Union Square. This was early in the pandemic experience, and I was wearing a homemade mask, a bright fuchsia floral print cut from a heavy cotton scarf. An elderly woman complimented me on the mask. “Most of them are so dull and ugly.” NO ONE was going inside to buy food without a mask. And that’s why we were lining up for our turn inside the almost empty store.
New Yorkers are pretty used to waiting on lines. We wait on lines to board buses, pass through subway turnstiles, enter theaters, and more. I’ve happily waited for hours to get seats in the famous Delacorte Theater for FREE Shakespeare in Central Park and I’ve survived huge lines on my way out of all three of the major New York City area airports at the start of my travel adventures. But some lines leave me wondering as I walk by.
The new Harry Potter store has opened on Fifth Avenue and 22nd street and every day folks are lined up to buy Harry Potter stuff and come out eating Harry Potter ice cream. I get that people love the books and movies and the Broadway play but it’s a store. Well, it’s a store to me. Maybe it’s a temple to them? A couple of times a week huge lines circle the Concepts store. The new releases of limited-edition sneakers bring out a crowd of young sneaker collectors—mainly young men. Wrapping my head around cool athletic shoes that cost $400 or more is hard enough, standing in line outside in heat or rain or snow or cold for the privilege of buying them is way outside my frame of reference. I’ve never felt the need to be the first with the new iPhone, either.
Let’s just note here that locals New York say “waiting ON line” while most of the U.S. seems to default. To “waiting IN line.” I’m fine with both as long as there is something truly worthy at the end of the wait. What will I wait for? To get into a museum, music venue, or to get onto a plane or train to get me somewhere wonderful.
It seems that there are many things that inspire people to line up and what you line up for, is indicative of what is truly important to you. The same goes for characters in a story. The guy who’s got to be the first with that new iPhone is clearly stating what’s important to him.
What’s your line? What inspires YOU to join that line of people circling the block? What does the end of that line say about a character?
Gah…I avoid lines of any sort like the plague. On the rare occasions that I do have to stand in line for something, I’ll read my Kindle until it’s my turn. As for lining up for a phone? -makes rude noise- I know it happens, I just don’t understand the mindset that goes with it. Ditto waiting all night in a sleeping bag with thousands of others to get football tickets…
What you’ve said about yourself would be a great introduction to a character in a story. This character values her time and her independence. She’s not swept up in sports fandom or fashion, but the carry your Kindle on the line is also revealing. You READ and you are capable of entertaining yourself playing games or watching videos. You don’t need a crowd to validate your entertainment choices. In a story, such a character might seem to be hiding behind her Kindle, but she likely sees something or notes something in the other people waiting on line that could be useful in forwarding the story. Maybe she notices an unusual shopping bag or overhears a snippet of an argument? Um….