“The wait is long, my dream of you does not end.”
― Nuala O'Faolain, My Dream of You

Waiting in line is a great equalizer, and like death and taxes, it's inevitable. There's the East coast debate as to whether one waits "in" or "on" line. Most everyone, if asked, would say they hate waiting in line, but there are a few rare moments where a sense of camaraderie can overtake a line, say, while waiting for tickets for a concert or sporting event.

There's the upside of "Antici...pation" as Dr. Frank N Furter put it in the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Certainly, there are many books about the twin annoyances of bureaucracy and of waiting, like Kafka's The Trial and Beckett's Waiting for Godot.

The Disney World Queue Line Scavenger Hunt book by Daniel Ireland and The Disney Queue Line Survival Guidebook by Kimberley Button make a game out of the process.

Why Does the Other Line Always Move Faster by David Andrews discusses the psychology of waiting in line. Rarely is the outcome as disappointing as it was for the caterpillars in Hope for the Flowers.

I've organized a few lines for classes for the library where we handed out numbers, hearkening back to the days of the red take-a-number dispensers that used to be common at delis. Now, many of our computer classes can be registered for online, obviating the need for waiting in line.

Only in New York have I encountered passersby of other lines at turns asking to know what one was standing in line for, then openly scoffing at it as something they deem unworthy.

In NYPL's Digital Collections there are images of patrons waiting for library to open and waiting for books at branches like Tompkins Square and Seward Park. Of course, this still happens, but to a different degree. Of course, having a book or an e-book to read while waiting always helps.