Economic New Observation · Wang Zekuo Series (The Civilization of Queuing · The Annoyance of Freedom)

Author: Wang Zekuo
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-10-01
Features: The Annoyances of Freedom collects some essay-style writings by the author over the past decade or so, roughly divided into five parts: Joy of Creation, Market Strolls, Changes in Concepts, Macro Observations, and Treasures of My Own. The Civilization of Queuing collects some essay-style writings by Wang Zekuo over the past decade or so, roughly divided into six parts: Bank Stories, Teaching Notes, Life in Writing, Reader Correspondence, Three Words, Two Phrases, and Philosophical Reverence. (Economic New Observation·Wang Zekuo Series is divided into two volumes, The Annoyances of Freedom and The Civilization of Queuing, and is not sold separately. For detailed information, please click ◇Related Books: The Annoyances of Freedom, The Civilization of Queuing)
About the Author: Please read the excerpt: The Civilization of Queuing
Before the holiday, I went to a savings bank branch of the Bank of China in Xinhang West Road, Guangzhou, to handle some banking matters. Normally, there isn’t a long queue here, but on this day, each window had about eight or nine people. I was hesitating which queue to join when a bank hostess advised me to go inside, telling me that the two outside windows were being served by interns who weren’t as efficient. The two guys in the neighboring queue, Xiao Chen and Xiao Li from the Light Industry School, had also followed the hostess’s advice and joined the inside queue, and were almost at the red waiting line. Indeed, the inside queues moved slightly faster. Xiao Chen had already reached the red line in front of him, but there were still six people ahead of me. Unexpectedly, at that moment, Xiao Chen’s queue completely stalled, while our queue kept moving forward. As a result, by the time I had received service, Xiao Chen was still waiting at the red line. In this "tortoise and hare" race, Xiao Li behind him couldn’t stand it and ran to the window several times, glaring at the old man and the lady serving Xiao Chen in front of the window with a warm but stern expression. Xiao Chen himself, however, was a composed young man, maintaining a rare calm demeanor throughout. I guessed he must have been annoyed at his bad luck too, because no one is a saint—everyone has joys, sorrows, anger, and happiness. It turned out that the old man in front of Xiao Chen had come to the bank to handle more than ten transactions together. The old man had filled out a proxy form in advance, but the process involved handling each item one by one—passwords, signatures, and verification—taking about 20 minutes in total. Our queue, however, mostly involved one transaction per person, and many were just deposits, so we moved much faster. Xiao Chen and Xiao Li had really chosen the wrong queue this time. Although they arrived earlier than me, they ended up spending half an hour longer. The old man also realized that the people behind him were getting impatient, so he stood in front of the window without daring to breathe, like a docile sheep. When he finally finished and left the window, he kept nodding slightly, expressing his apology.
The phenomenon of queuing exists in all economies today, not just in planned economies. If there is no better way to allocate time resources, queuing might be the most fair solution. However, for queuing to truly be fair, it is essential to adhere to the principle of "first come, first served" or "first come, first served." In the example above, Xiao Chen arrived earlier than me but didn’t get served first, creating an unfairness. So, what is the root of this unfairness? The direct cause seems to be the old man handling more than ten transactions at once. In reality, the old man wasn’t wrong, because there is no regulation against handling multiple transactions at once. The old man’s "body language" of apology only shows his good manners and understanding, not any sense of moral responsibility. The root of this unfairness lies in the bank’s queuing system not being scientific or civilized enough. A scientific and civilized queuing system is one where each type of business has its own queue. As long as there is only one queue for each type of business, implementing the principle of "first come, first served" wouldn’t be an issue. Originally, the Bank of China had very advanced hardware for queuing systems, with waiting above each window. At the Bank of China in Dongfeng West Road Financial Building, all depositors queue in one line, and the tells them which window to go to when it’s their turn. There, there is no issue of being served out of order. Unfortunately, at the Xinhang West Road Bank, the hardware specifically designed for fair queuing has become a neglected decoration. The queuing system there has regressed to the primitive state of queuing for each window separately. Even though the bank has specially arranged hostesses to guide people in queuing, it has not only been ineffective but counterproductive. The hostesses, with good intentions, guided Xiao Chen and Xiao Li to the faster queues, only to end up with them in the slowest queues.
In developed countries, when residents go to government offices for business, they tear a number upon entering, sit down to read or relax, and wait for the. Guangdong, which has taken the lead in reform and opening up, has the conditions to promote a more scientific queuing system and a more civilized society. It wouldn’t be difficult to start with banks, which should naturally be more civilized places, simply by adhering to the principle of one queue for each type of business.