Just what is it that causes us Indians to behave so abominably in the public place? Don't know what I am talking about? Walk into a food court of any mall over the weekend at lunch or dinner time. First of all, you have to do a little research in figuring out if there is a queue and if so, where does it end. About a minute after you join the queue, someone will come and stand so close behind you that if you so much as turn your head, you will bump into that person. Then the person at the counter will spent agonizing minutes in deciding what he/she wants to eat. When it is finally your turn to order, someone who is blind enough not to see the queue will come and start talking to the guy manning the counter. It is enough to turn a civilized person into a raging lunatic.

I nursed homicidal thoughts for a few fleeting seconds over the weekend at the Subway counter in a mall. I was patiently standing in the queue waiting for the lady in front of me to finish her order. Just when the guy wrapped up her subs and it was my turn to step forward, a girl came from nowhere and started questioning the guy at the counter. I stayed mum for the first 1-2 questions, thinking maybe she was confused about what to order. But then the conversation moved dangerously closer to the ordering point.

That's when I decided to intervene. I stepped forward and told the guy at the counter that since I was next in queue, he can now take my order. I proceeded to tell him exactly what I wanted. And the girl walked back to the end of the queue.

My brother who was at the McDonald's counter a few paces away, had to also firmly tell a man that he should wait his turn at the queue he was standing in and not jump in front of another queue.

And this is not limited to the eateries. You see similar kind of behavior at the checkout counters at the grocery stores. These days I shop there over the weekday nights. Less hassle for my heart and soul!