Recently, I read a newspaper about psychology of queuing when people are waiting to do something. Passengers in Houston airport gave a number of complaints about the long waits at baggage claim area many years ago.
They later increased some baggage employees for settling the issue. This method helped to reduce wait times, however, the complaints didn't vanish. So, the airport took an in-depth analysis, finding that about 88 % of passengers' time was wasted on waiting their baggage, and made another new way, which moved the arrival gates far apart from the terminal and delivered bags to the farthest baggage carousel. Now passengers had to walk six times longer to get their luggage, but the complaints almost disappeared.
Do you know why? The expert said, "Often the psychology of queuing is more important than the statistics of the wait itself. Occupied time (walking to baggage claim) feels shorter than unoccupied time (standing at the carousel). Research on queuing has shown that people on average overrate how long they have waited in a line by about 36 %." Give people something to do would feel the wait be shorter than expected. It is similar to the reason behind the mirrors in elevators. In front of the mirrors, we could check our clothes, hair or peep at others.
If you have to spend some time waiting in a line, what would you do to make the wait more bearable? Perhaps a book, a smartphone or iProducts could help. Thank you for taking time to drop by. Wish you a good day.
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Comments
Hello dear Tara,
Thanks so much for commenting and featuring the post. I really appreciate it.
Yeah, I don't forget my goal even though the speed of posting blogs is far slow than I thought at the beginning. Busyness is not a good excuse for not working on it. I'd keep posting no matter how many blogs I would make at the end of the year. :)
The situation was also happened when I was queuing for buying train ticket few weeks ago. Only a few front desk clerks were definitely not enough to deal with passengers snaked around the station. I almost missed my train as I bought the ticket. :(
- correct sentence as below, is it correct ?
Giving people something to do would be felt the wait shorter than expected.
Hi Grace,
It's great to see that you are still working towards your goal! I love this topic. I think it's really interesting that we all exaggerate about how long we wait in lines. When I'm in a lineup I feel frustrated if I'm late for something. But, if I have nowhere to be, I am a pretty patient person. If I'm in a store, I usually read the headlines on the magazines near the checkout. The one thing I find annoying is when there aren't enough people working at a grocery store during the peak times, such as before dinner.
Can you fix this sentence?
Give people something to do would feel the wait be shorter than expected.
Dear Sis,
You can say that again.. I also need it. Some airports provide walkalator or travelator for passengers to pass through quickly, but I sometimes choose walking intentionally instead. I guess we have the same purpose. lol...
Thank you for the comment. Keep smiling. ^_^
Dear Yasemin,
Here the internet service also can be found in some fast food restaurants, coffee shops or certain public areas. That would be useful if we could be given a green light to have internet service far and near. It's not only we can kill time while waiting, but also can check or obtain information we need anytime.
Glad to see your opinion, Yasmin. Hope banks in your country could serve you internet soon. :D
Teacher Hala and Scarlett,
Thanks for your comment and liking the post.
That's interesting. You know now when travelling long hours by bus (long-distance), we are served internet connection here so that passengers will be pleased and won't complain about longs hours. I hope to be served this service when waiting in the banks. Then, I will never complain about waiting there. lol
Thanks for the interesting information Grace!
Thanks for sharing Grace ! :)
It's indeed a wonderful blog ! Thank you dear Grace for sharing !