Opinion / Li Xing
Waiting patiently for shorter lines
By Li Xing (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-06-28 06:53
They say time is money.
And few people know that better than Jiang Yufeng, a migrant worker from
Central China's Henan Province. Jiang runs a licensed business, which
involves queuing up on behalf of other people, thus saving them time. In
return, her clients pay her well - she makes about 10,000 yuan ($1,300) a
month.
She has won appreciation from her clients because they deem her fees
reasonable, unlike the scalpers who are despised as they roam around
railway stations, in front of theaters and sports stadiums, and in the
registration halls of hospitals.
For many Chinese, queuing up was once associated with scarcity. Three
decades or more ago, we had to line up for the limited supply of daily
necessities and food. Anyone who was late was deprived of the chance to
get fresh fish or lean pork.
These days, we don't have to stand in such lines, as food, clothing and
other essential items are in abundant supply. People more often find
themselves lining up at places such as hospitals and banks.
A friend of mine told me that when she went to the hospital with her
husband a few weeks ago, so that he could see a doctor, she had to wait
in each line - to pay for treatments, wait for tests, collect medicines -
in his stead. She "waited" for a total of about two hours, she said.
The success of Jiang's business clearly indicates that time is more
precious and valuable to those who have the money to pay.
However, more Chinese are becoming intolerant of long queues. People
spend more time waiting from about 20 minutes in the past to a few hours
or more at banks or hospitals today.
The media and the public have criticized hospitals, banks and related
government administrations such as the Ministry of Health for the long
queues. And large institutions should take the blame. Banks, for
instance, have only just started considering ways to cut waiting times -
by opening more windows during their service hours, for instance.
Meanwhile, China lacks a comprehensive public healthcare system with a
fair distribution of medical resources. As a result, many people go to
major hospitals for a simple cold. So while major hospitals are
overcrowded with patients queuing for hours, small and community
hospitals suffer from a lack of patients.
While it is easy to point fingers at these institutions and governments,
we have also overlooked the fact that too many of us Chinese still retain
the bad habit of jumping queues, thus allowing Jiang's business, or the
business of ticket scalpers to flourish.
Lining up is a way of life common in any country worldwide - developed
ones as well - in supermarkets, at entrances and exits to highways, and
at bus stops and airports.
I always marvel at people's patience and order when I travel overseas. I
still remember the long single file of cars on St Patrick Street leading
to King Edward and Hull in Ottawa.
More often than not, it is a Chinese who is more impatient than everyone
else and looks for a shortcut. Perhaps it is the mentality of "Me first
or else I'll get none", which took root in times of extreme shortages
that still feeds such a bad habit.
It is worst during rush hours. At the intersection near my office,
drivers shoot straight through red lights, make left turns, right turns
and U-turns regardless of who or what lies in their way.
While people need to kick their bad habits and learn to live with the
fact that sometimes you have to just stand in line, institutions that
serve the people must do more to help reduce waiting times. The shorter
the time a client waits, the more people the institutions serve.
And after all, time is money.
E-mail: lixing@chinadaily.com.cn
(China Daily 06/28/2007 page10)
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