Queue

n. – line

The French have their own system for forming lines. They don’t. When coming back from the holidays by train, the taxi line at Montparnasse was very long, albeit formed, as there is actually a barricade that doesn’t allow for much leeway. I noticed that there was a second line to the side with nobody in it that led directly to the head of the first line that we were all standing in. The sign made it clear that this second line was for people who needed special assistance or were handicapped in some way. There were symbols of wheelchairs, crutches, seeing-eye dogs, what looked like a symbol for someone who may be hard of hearing and a symbol for a very pregnant woman.

Little by little, I noticed parents with young children either in strollers or being carried, marching right down the empty line and heading in front of all of us. One after the other – some of the children were small and not of walking age, others looked ambulatory despite the fact that the parents were lugging them over their hips. I didn’t see any symbols on the sign for strollers or children and there were people in our line with both who looked confused.

The French are very polite though so nobody made any waves. But finally when a young, healthy looking couple strolled down the empty line, someone in our line shouted out. The young man replied that his wife was pregnant. While it may have been on the sign, there was certainly no sign of that on her that any of us could see! Luckily for us, it was finally our turn so even if our long wait had been further lengthened by all the people cutting the queue, at least it was finally over.