Queue Density

I was at Bangalore airport a few days ago waiting to board a flight to Pune. A strange thing happened as soon as the gate agent arrived. Even before the airline announced that the flight was ready for boarding, people jumped up from their seats and formed a queue. It was good 20 minutes before the gate agent booted up her computer and made the announcement to commence boarding.

I was quite amused to see how long these people patiently stood in line for that long a time when it was clear that aircraft was not going to leave without them. I can perhaps understand the urgency for people who had large carry-on luggage for they might want to be the first to rush in and lift their bags to the overhead bins, but others, with nothing more than a laptop bag were also standing in line. My own strategy is to remain comfortably seated near the gate until the line has gone through the gate.

The other thing was how tightly packed the queue was. This is a peculiarly Indian thing. Perhaps, having grown up in queues at bus stands and railway stations and at the milk booth, there is an inherent fear in our minds that someone will cut into the line ahead of us if we leave any room there. Perhaps that approach still makes sense at a bus stand in rural Haryana. But here at Bangalore airport were grown men, most sporting Nike sneakers and toting iPhones standing nut-to-butt for a good 20 minutes. What gives?