The Queue Problem ...

I had been to Landmark @ the Forum mall in Bangalore to buy a gift for my wife on her 26th birthday .... (she's gettin' old !!! :-) ... It didn't take much time for me to pick up the gift, since I had already decided on what to get ... So, I picked up what I wanted, paid the bill and was waiting in a really longgg queue for gift-wrapping the stuff.. The funny thing is, if you want a nice wrap, you have to pay an extra 10 rupees (or) you have to settle for the ugly wraps that they provide.. I seriously dont know what's wrong with those folks for giving such 'good-for-nothing' wraps.. Alright now.. I bought a nice wrap and joined the queue.. I didn't complain about the long queue, only because there was a very pretty girl standing right behind me and she even asked me something about those free and no-good gift wraps.. And to oblige to her question, I was telling her something, when I noticed this guy (3 positions behind me in the queue) with a lovely parker pen set.. He seemed to be very impatient standing in the queue..

Now comes the Queue problem. To understand this, you first need to know how the queue looks like out here.. Since, it is not a perfect world, the queue, too is also not a single wavy line .. its kind of shaped like a cone.. See what I mean !!! the top portion of this cone-shaped queue is towards the counter, where atleast 4 or 5 ppl who are standing at the head, think they have reached the counter first, somehow defying the laws of physics ....

So, after 30 mins of waiting (and standing next to that pretty girl) and having almost reached the counter, I suddenly notice this guy ahead of me, trying to sneak in and get his 'Parket-Set' wrapped (again, with those stupid ugly wraps) .. What the @$%& !!! I called this guy up (with my voice raised a little) to 'inform' him that we are all waiting in the Queue ... Everyone heard me whine, including the girl.. You should have seen the guy's acting skills.. he put up a real-good cameo role of not knowing nothin' about the queue.. He most definitely would have impressed the judges at the Oscars ..

Whew !!! So, after this little scene and a winning smile/acknowledgement from the girl behind me, ... I moved to the head of the queue, only to find that an old man has already jumped ahead of me and is in the middle of gift wrapping his stuff ... Alas !! all in vain .. The old man had got some Tin-Tin books, maybe, for his grandchildren .. Atleast, he would go home as a happy man ...

Hmm.. The queue problem continues ... Oh !!! and by the way, I bought Harry Potter's Goblet of Fire book to complete my wife's HP collection ...