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Waiting in Line The British queue up and the Americans wait in line， except for New Yorkers， who wait on line. No one seems to know the reason for this local idiom. It is something to ponder while waiting in/on line. Another thing to ponder： It is estimated that Americans spednd up to five years of their lives in that tedious， weary but unavoidable process known as waiting. Studies show that otherwise rational people act irrationally when forced to stand in line or wait in crowds， even becoming violent. Queues are a grim reality of city life. While there seems to be no consensus onthe citys worst line， the ones mentioned most often in talks here and there were lunchtime lines at banks and post offices and， among younger people， movie lines and college-registration lines. Bank lines， said Mark Sloane， an investor. No matter what time of day you bank， the number of tellers is inadequate to the number of patrons. Even when the bank is open you see long lines infront of the money machines outside. Supermarkets， said Ed Frantz， a graphic artist， who once abandoned a full shopping cart in the middle of a long checkout line. It was not a political act. The line was filled with coupon clippers and check writers， he recalled. And suddenly I had to walk away. Food no longer mattered. In any line the fundamental rule is first come， first served， or what dsocial scientists call distributive justice. Exceptions may be made， say， in fancy restaurants where the headwaiters have their favorites， but， in general， the rule prevails. | 
