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Showing posts from October, 2013

Queues and Lines

Over the past 10 days, I've had the dubious pleasure of sitting in queues. For those of you who speak american, queues are lines. Standing in lines is a tradition that seems to be world wide. About 10 days ago, as I prepared to leave my home country, I needed to update by state registry data. Knowing what was coming, I went reasonably early, perhaps an hour after opening, got a number and went for coffee. I knew that my wait would be at least two hours, so while drinking coffee, I had breakfast and read a book. I was lucky enough to be near a window, so I could also watch the tourists walking back and forth along the main street. I was relaxed and prepared because I knew that the line was long and that patience was the only recourse. On entry to Dublin, I once again needed to register with the state. In Ireland, that's called a Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) card. I had the hope that Ireland was a first world country and was able to manage waiting times.