Apparently, China is trying to teach its citizens to queue for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Anyone who’s ever been to the country knows just how hilarious a proposal that is. The only thing essential to the Chinese “queue” is the liberal use of elbows. In my month in the country, I never saw even two people in any sort of intentional linear arrangement. Most everything in China is “first come, first served” and that’s a motto they take pretty damn seriously. Queueing is a system for people assured of abundance.

It’ll be an interesting experiment to be sure.

song of the day: modest mouse – the world at large

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Like this post

Unlike