<rant>

“Humans are weird,” I said, breaking the silence.

“Huh?” My colleagues were confused with this unprecedented comment and I definitely don't blame them. My caffeine induced thoughts had reached a ridiculous level of random but, at the time, I felt it was necessary to spit it out.

You see, I've always been baffled with the way humans follow the crowds. We’ve all seen it, and more than likely participated in this absurd behavior.

You’re walking toward the movie theater to watch a new release that supposedly has critics raving, calling it “the best motion picture film of the century.” As you approach the doors, you realize that out of the ten door options, visitors are only using one and have thus created a long line to get in. So then you start to panic and question your very existence! Are the other doors locked? Am I supposed to wait in line too? Have the doors been infected with anthrax so that every person that touches it dies (no joke, this was a fear of mine with toilet paper)?

Or, if you don’t like movies or malls or pretty much any other place where people gather, what about stop signs? You drive up to the stop sign where you’re now the eighth person in line, yet the lane next to you is completely open. What is up with that? Do you stay in the line, or switch to the empty lane?

Here’s where I start to think that inclusion almost always trumps efficiency. Perhaps this is why people think it’s so cool to camp out for Black Friday or product releases.

SPOILER ALERT:

In the new Gilmore Girls season, there’s an episode where Rory is asked to write a story about the thrill of product releases. So, she starts going around the city and standing in all of these lines to see what the big fuss is about. What she learned is that some people don’t even know why they’re standing in line. They simply saw a line and said, “hey, there must be something cool here.” Others didn’t mind the inconvenience of waiting for long periods of time. “Who cares if I miss my doctor’s appointment or work meeting, I’m standing in this line dammit.”

Interesting, huh? Even if you don’t find it interesting, just nod your head and pretend you do.

Did you nod your head? HA!

It’s okay. We all do it now and then, I just enjoy observing these behaviors because I myself am weird. </rant>