I spent some time in Venezuela right at the beginning of a bad to worse economic period in the country; thus low-to no supplies of simple daily needs like sugar, salt, flour, toilet paper, and stuff. Supermarket shelves were starting to go empty, and the fundamental essentials every Venezuelan needed to make their empanadas or Arepa, for Desayuno or Almuerzo, (breakfast or lunch) were becoming scarce. Queues had become part of everyday life and there were almost always lines in any supply stores, shops, and supermarkets.
Whenever a product was available, you could only buy a limited quantity. This was to ensure that whatever was obtainable could be largely distributed (for example, if it were packets of flour, as an individual customer, you were not allowed over a certain amount).
On this particular mid-morning, I was out to do my usual shopping when I noticed a long line extending to the outside of the supermarket area. My first thought was; a line to get into the supermarket? But thankfully, it was not. I could still move around and go about my grocery shopping. I was curious nonetheless to know what the long queue was for because maybe, it was for something that I too needed.
So I approached a couple of ladies holding tightly onto their bags and so deep in conversation, chatting away in Spanish and waiting in line. I asked them in my then very basic Spanish what was happening. What the long queue was for?
“Yo, non se,” I don’t know.’ Was the quick reply of one of the ladies looking at her friend like, do you? ‘Vi gente haciendo fila y yo también hice fila.’ She continued. ‘I saw people lining up and I too lined up.
Had the queue been for chopping people’s heads off honestly, what chance of survival did this lady and her queue friend have?
For some, despair can cause ignorance or a loss of something as simple as common sense. Wasn’t it easier for this lady and her friend to ask ahead what the queue was for, so they were sure it was something they needed, before wasting time in line? What would you have done in the same situation?
