The second report on queuing in BA, with the benefit of seven months more experience.
To read the first one click here.
“An Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue of one.” (Mikes 1946)
When George Mikes wrote this in 1946, he was, of course, poking fun at the proper English obsession with queuing, an obsession that Australians have inherited and made their own. This report reflects upon experiences of queuing in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from the perspective of an Australian who has been living in the city for approximately nine months, and makes comparisons with observations and discussions of queuing made approximately six weeks after first arriving in the country. I chose the topic, although it seems trivial, because of confusion I felt when lining up to purchase items, which was compounded by frustration associated with not understanding the language. Little things that I did not expect before my arrival created a greater cultural shock for me than more important issues for which I had an existing preconception.
The original observations of queuing in Buenos Aires focused mainly on the ‘double-line system’ which is employed in a number of different businesses in the city including bars, clubs, pharmacies, bakeries and stationery stores amongst others. The system basically involves waiting in two lines, one in which the cash transaction is made, and the other in which the desired goods are received. The report pointed out the unfamiliarity that an Australian (or other foreign) customer felt with the system, hypothesised possible reasons for its use, outlined some of the connotations it has for a foreigner’s view of the average Argentinean, and concluded that it would be better for all involved if the system were changed. Some of the possible reasons hypothesised for its use included:
• A distrust of customers. By requiring that cash payments occur before exchange of goods, there is less of a chance of theft.
• A distrust of employees. By isolating the cash exchange to a single point, or a few points, if money goes missing it can be tracked to a single employer.
• It is a tradition inherited from colonial ancestors.
• It actually saves time for the customer because people are served more quickly at the cash register. In Australia for example, an employee serving a customer often has to wait for another employee to get access to the cash register.
• It provides a greater profit to the business if a ticket is lost and not redeemed or prints incorrectly and cannot be deciphered.
The connotations that the report claimed were implied by these possible reasons were that Argentineans are dishonest, poor, lacking in education or technical know-how, behind the times, resistant to change and not savvy business people.
A factor in my early views of the double line system and the connotations of its use may have been the fact that I had been robbed twice in my first few months in the country. Having never been robbed ever in Australia, nor in any other country to which I have travelled, to be robbed twice in a few months was a shock. It encouraged my view of the dishonest, poor Argentinean who was willing to take advantage of someone for their own personal gain. The security consciousness of my teachers at university, and the fact that eighty percent of the foreigners I knew had been robbed (some of them twice or three times) reinforced this view. One teacher related a story about how he had found a wallet containing only cash, and a gym membership card. We asked him what he did and he told us he was not willing to tell the employees of the gym that he had one of their members’ wallets because he thought one of them might pretend to be the member. He said he could not take it to the police, because he did not trust them and thought they would take the money. He eventually managed to return the wallet, money and all, which showed me that honest Argentineans existed, but the story that surrounded it reinforced exactly the opposite. In the end, I think I was partly at fault in the robberies for not being more careful, and I could eventually forgive my robbers because of their obvious state of need. Thankfully I have not been robbed since and my view of Argentineans as dishonest has changed.
My views of the double line system however, remain somewhat intact. It is still something I view as inefficient and slightly annoying, but I have become used to it. Although the issue may seem trivial to someone who has not experienced it, it remains a popular topic of conversation amongst new arrivals to the city. Opinions expressed during these conversations are usually negative, focusing on confusion with the purpose for the system and/or derision of the system. This shows that it is, at least, something very noticeable to foreigners. The reason for its noticeability is because, to an Australian (or to most foreigners in general), it is confronting. And it is confronting for two reasons. The first is because it causes a moment of confusion which forces you to realise you are in a foreign place, and which broadcasts to everyone in your immediate vicinity that you are a foreigner. The second is because it is inconvenient. Lining up for something twice is simply not fun. You remember the experience because it is unpleasant, and you try to avoid being embarrassed or inconvenienced in the future.
What makes that embarrassment or inconvenience harder to deal with is the associated difficulty in comprehending the reasons for the system. When something is different to what someone is used to and the reasons for it cannot be easily rationalised, it turns into something unnecessary and unwarranted, or even something stupid. This is evident in everyday life, but is particularly prevalent when someone experiences a new culture. It is a manifestation of culture shock (Hofstede & Hofstede 2005); as you learn about how things function in a new place, if they are not quite the same as what you are used to, they tend to be seen in a negative light. Compare this with an Argentinean’s opinion of the double line system: They rarely have one. It is something they are accustomed to and take for granted. When conversing about it, they often ask what is different about queuing in countries like Australia, and when it is explained, they do not think it is necessarily better or worse than what occurs in Buenos Aires. And perhaps it is not. In the end, what makes something better or worse than something else? Only your experience and your opinion.
With time, the double line system is something that a visitor to Buenos Aires becomes used to. In fact, my first report probably over exaggerated the number of businesses that employ it. There are pharmacies which do not use the system. There are bars which employ bar staff who handle the money directly. There are stationery shops where you can buy a pen without having to describe it in detail first. I found from personal experience that I actually began to avoid places with the double line system. This was particularly true of bars, but also applied to pharmacies. In the case of pharmacies, I would choose to go to the ones with a supermarket style browsing system followed by the cash payment. In the case of bars, I stopped going to the ones where I had to line up twice. As someone starts to settle into life in a new a city and leaves the exploration phase of the visit, they naturally do not see as many places as they were seeing before, and therefore do not see as many places employing the double line. More time is spent at home, at friends’ homes, or at places which are comfortable and familiar.
However, the major factor in becoming used to or tolerating the system is familiarity with it. Upon visiting a bakery with the system, the next time you return, you know what to do and where to go. Progression with the language also helps, so that later, if you enter a shop which employs the system, it can be explained to you. Avoiding the double line system, and settling into life in the city have played their parts in allowing it to become easier to deal with, but in the end familiarity with the system and accepting that you will be lining up twice before you do it is what makes it less annoying. Lining up twice is simply not as much of a big deal to me anymore. There are more important things to worry about.
An increase in familiarity is what marks the change between cultural adjustment and being culturally adjusted, or as Hofstede & Hofstede (2005) call it, acculturation and a steady state. When I first arrived, there were many things that I found unusual about the city. There were ‘big’ things like the language, the way the city looked and homeless children. These were obvious and to an extent, things that I had been expecting. But there were little things which were unusual also. Things like the twenty five and fifty centavo (cent) pieces being the same size, the broken footpaths covered in dog droppings, the difference in the comfort of cinema seats, and letting women on the bus first just because they are women. I definitely experienced the culture shock that Hofstede & Hofstede (2005, p. 323) write about, and if my feelings towards the new environment were not hostile, they were certainly condescending. I felt like Sydney was better than Buenos Aires in so many ways. ‘Why would a country which thought about anything for longer than five minutes make the twenty five and fifty cent pieces the same size?’, I would often think to myself (and rant to others). To me, with our beautiful, differently shaped and sized Australian coins and coloured plastic banknotes, it seemed utterly insane that someone in power could have decided to make different denominations of coins the same size. Exchanging currency is a fundamental part of most peoples’ daily lives, and when coins look, feel and weigh the same, it makes those daily lives just that little bit harder. The double line system, because I could not understand the reasons behind it, fell into the same category.
I suppose it is a reflection on my time here that if I have been preoccupying myself with issues such as the size of coins and whether I have to line up twice, it must mean that life in Buenos Aires has been an enjoyable experience overall. I will definitely be sad to leave, but at the same time I am looking forward to getting back to Sydney, to what I am used to, and where my friends and family are. I feel a little embarrassed about my original analysis of the double line system. I do not think I really had any right to criticise it so harshly, and I certainly did not have the right to imply some of the things about the people that I implied. In the end, the system works. You line up (twice), and you get what you need. Who am I, as a foreigner, to say that it should be replaced, or altered, or stopped? These are things that are decided by the culture, and something that a foreigner has to accept.
And for the record, as any Argentinean will tell you, the twenty five and fifty cent coins are slightly different sizes.
REFERENCES
Hofstede, G.H. & Hofstede, G.J. 2005, Cultures and organizations software of the mind, 2nd edn, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Mikes, G. 1946, How to be an alien : a handbook for beginners and advanced pupils, Wingate, London & New York.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Cultural Queues in Buenos Aires, Argentina
This was an assignment I wrote soon after I arrived in Buenos Aires in March sometime. The point of it was to reflect upon an aspect of the culture within the city that had struck me after six weeks living there. Instead of writing about the Tango or the food or something interesting like that, i decided to do my report on queues. The thing about this assignment was that it had to be followed up by another piece of writing, looking at the same subject but with the benefit of roughly seven months more experience. That report will be posted shortly too. This is the exact version i submitted. Thank you to those on face-book i wrote to rally up ideas.
“An Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue of one.” (Mikes 1946)
When George Mikes wrote this in 1946, he was, of course, poking fun at the proper English obsession with queuing, an obsession that Australians have inherited and made their own. There’s nothing worse than a queue-jumper. It’s not fair. It’s not right. It’s un-Australian. This report explores the cultural aspects of queuing in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from the perspective of an Australian customer and discusses the ways in which their queuing systems reflect upon Argentina’s appearance to outsiders.
Australians are world famous for their queuing. From an early age, young Australian queue jumpers are sent to the back of the line. If there are multiple Automatic Teller Machines available at a bank, Australians will form a single orderly queue, minimizing average waiting time and maximizing efficiency. Australians will always make sure those already at the bar have been served. Australians have a definite sense of social justice when it comes to queuing and it effects how they view the rest of the world.
Now, no matter who or where you are in the world, queuing to receive a service is usually not a pleasant experience. People don’t like to wait for a number of reasons. Amongst many others, they feel like they are wasting time, could be doing something more productive, or don’t like close contact with strangers. There are entire scientific journals, such as Queueing Systems which are devoted to the mathematics and mechanics of queues, and continue to research ways of making queues more efficient and productive for use in areas such as health, traffic, business and the internet. There are also many scholarly articles which discuss the social aspects of queuing and the notions of fairness, fear and anger that can be experienced while queuing.
From an Australian perspective, Porteños, or people from Buenos Aires, certainly aren’t the worst queuers in the world. When the line is short with a single server, like a line for train tickets, they will rarely jump ahead. If there is a person ahead of them near a service point, they will often ask if they are waiting in line. This is entirely different from many places in Asia or Europe, where the concept of queuing equals pushing to the front or loitering near a service point in order to dart in when it becomes available.
However, in Buenos Aires, as in many South American countries, there is a particularly unusual method of queuing (as it appears to an Australian). It can be experienced at large bars, fast food chains, bakeries, photo shops, retail outlets, pharmacies, stationary stores and many other places. This method generally involves waiting in two lines. In one of the lines, the cash transaction is made, while in the other, the desired goods are received.
The order in which a customer waits in these two lines is dependent on the business, but generally, at places such as large bars, or fast food outlets, the cash line is stood in first, a ticket received, and this is then given to the server who reads the ticket and presents the food, drinks, or whatever else is desired.
In other places, such as bakeries, pharmacies, and stationery stores, goods are chosen with the help of an attendant, after waiting in line to access that attendant, and usually presented by the attendant to the cashier for payment. It’s almost like a supermarket, but with someone picking the items you choose off the shelf, and putting them in a trolley you don’t have access to.
The two-line method can be a frustrating, annoying, stressful, and confusing experience for an Australian customer, because it essentially doubles the waiting time they’re used to. It can even mean tripling the waiting time if the customer is unfamiliar with the process; one line to get the product, only to be told a ticket is needed, a second line to get the ticket, and finally the return to the end of first line to get the product.
The two-queue system appears so inefficient to a foreign customer that it’s hard to imagine that there must be a legitimate and beneficial reason for it. A foreigner’s experiences of daily life within a country affect their views of the people from that country and something as simple as a queuing system is no exception. Quick opinions are often formed through conjecture due to an inability or disinterest to gain facts. The following attempts to replicate some of the quick opinions that may be formed and is based solely upon conjecture.
An obvious possible reason for the two line system might be to more easily monitor those persons in contact with the cash. In the two-line system, responsibility for the cash in the register often lies with just a single person. This reduces the temptation a cashier might have to steal money because they can be more easily monitored. If one takes this as the reason for the two queues, the Australian’s impression of Argentineans becomes one of dishonesty and distrust. Argentineans themselves have a phrase for their dishonest nature; la viveza criolla, meaning the cunning native. Employees appear willing to steal from their employers given the chance, and employers appear distrustful of the people they employ.
Once an outsider jumps to this conclusion, it’s easy to jump to others. A popular conclusion amongst foreigners is that many Argentineans working in these positions are so poor they need to steal extra cash to survive. This conclusion is an uncomfortable one, firstly because it assumes that most poor people are thieves, and secondly, because it assumes employers aren’t paying their employees enough to survive.
But perhaps the two line system has more to do with controlling the customer, and stopping them from walking away with goods they haven’t paid for. This is done by making them pay at the cashier first, or by keeping the goods behind the counter until payment. But thefts like this could also be avoided by using a single line if the cash was taken first and products given after payment. Waiting time would be reduced with no risk of ‘walk-aways’. ‘Walk-aways’ are discouraged in countries such as Australia through the use of electronic security devices that detect objects leaving the store that haven’t been paid for.
Three impressions of Argentineans are formed from this; one is that Argentinean customers are willing to steal given the opportunity, reinforcing our notion of la viveza criolla and the dishonest Argentinean. The second has to do with a cultural difference in the importance placed upon customer satisfaction. In Australia if a customer had to continually line up twice, they would complain and possibly not return to the store. The store would lose a customer, and future revenue due to a frustrating wait that could easily be avoided. The third is that Argentineans either don’t have the means or the desire to install electronic security systems, which indirectly reflects on their lack of wealth.
Perhaps the extra security measures are a result of the crash of the Argentinean economy in 2001. After a long period of recession, the peso hit rock bottom, unemployment rose as high as 20%, and the country defaulted on an $80 billion sovereign loan, the largest default in history. Thousands lost their life savings in an instant when bank accounts were frozen, and half the country descended below the poverty line. Under these conditions, it is understandable that an employer would keep a close eye on where his money is going and take measures to ensure it isn’t going into an employee’s pocket. Now, things are recovering. Argentina’s current unemployment rate is around 8% and dropping. But there is an interesting clue to suggest that the crash doesn’t actually have much to do with the use of the two-line system.
That clue is that the double line system is not exclusive to Argentina. Fellow travelers speak of the same system in Chile, Bolivia and Peru. Perhaps, like Australia, these countries have simply inherited their queuing systems from their colonizers. Perhaps the two-line system is traditional.
This seems unlikely though, because, like Australia, Spain currently employs the one-line system. If Spain ever employed the two-line system in the past, they’ve realized its downfalls, and moved on to the more efficient single-line system. I doubt that it’s tradition in Argentina, but if it is, they need to move on, as it’s time consuming.
However, it could be argued that the ticket-first system actually saves time, because access to cash registers is concentrated and servers do not have to wait to use them. There are examples of two line systems in Australia in which this is definitely the case. Examples include pre-paying for bus tickets or train tickets, theatre tickets, movie tickets or concert tickets. However, in all of these cases, the amount of time spent waiting to buy the ticket is usually made up by the amount of time saved when using it.
In Buenos Aires, the likelihood of the two-line system saving time is only good if cash registers are so few that servers must wait for each other to get access to them, or if a person plans to return to the product supply point multiple times with their originally purchased tickets. The simple fact is that the shorter the line, the more products sold because people are less willing to wait longer periods of time. But to create shorter lines, you need to employ more people, and install more cash registers. These things are expensive. So an outsider perceives the lack of cash registers and workers as a lack of money, and Argentineans are again perceived as poor.
Another downfall of the ticketing system, especially in crowded bars, is that if you lose the ticket, you lose the drinks. Obviously if a customer loses a ticket it’s their own fault, but often, when this happens, a customer can’t help but think that the bar knows that some of the tickets are going to get lost, meaning they won’t have to supply the products that been have legitimately been bought. If a person leaves the bar early with tickets in their pocket, again, the bar wins. Also if a ticket doesn’t print correctly and the bar person can’t read it, the drinks disappear. An outsider can’t help but think that the bar does this on purpose, reinforcing our idea of the dishonest Argentinean. If the bar doesn’t do this on purpose, an outsider wonders why they don’t change the system to ensure it doesn’t happen in the future, reinforcing our idea of a cultural difference in the value placed on customer satisfaction.
Another problem at bars is due to the length of the queues. Buenos Aires appears to have a serious problem with overcrowding in night clubs. In late 2004, 194 people were killed and another 714 injured after a fire broke out at the República Cromañón nightclub. Many died of smoke inhalation and many others were crushed to death as people tried to escape through inadequate exits. Because lines are so long to get drinks, people tend to order larger amounts to avoid returning to the queue later. Friends will also get them to cash their tickets to avoid standing in the line themselves.
This can cause confusion between the customer and the bartender. The bartender will take the ticket, serve only some of the drinks, and then move on to another customer. In the meantime, the original customer waits, and tries to say they’re missing a drink, while the rest of the line pushes from behind. The pressure from the line behind eventually causes the customer to leave short-changed. Again, perhaps it’s not purposeful, but an outsider sees it as rude, annoying, and dishonest.
Using queue theory, mathematicians can find the perfect balance between the amount of customers moving through the system and their waiting time, the number of service points and their installation costs, the probability and amount of theft by employees and customers, and customer satisfaction and their likelihood of returning. It’s impossible to know whether that balance has been found in Argentina, and it’s affected by things such as an employee’s level of pay and the value they place on employment. But it certainly appears inefficient, and unless every single employee is a thief, it’s highly unlikely the balance has been found within the current system.
It’s interesting that something as simple as queuing can provide insights into a people and their culture. To an Australian, the two-queue system makes Argentineans appear dishonest, distrustful, inefficient, overly bureaucratic, and unwilling or unable to think of better solutions to problems. Appearances that from experience, are entirely unwarranted. If Argentineans rethink this system, it will not only create better impressions on foreigners, but benefit their economy.
References
Mikes, G. 1946, How to be an alien : a handbook for beginners and advanced pupils, Wingate, London & New York.
“An Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue of one.” (Mikes 1946)
When George Mikes wrote this in 1946, he was, of course, poking fun at the proper English obsession with queuing, an obsession that Australians have inherited and made their own. There’s nothing worse than a queue-jumper. It’s not fair. It’s not right. It’s un-Australian. This report explores the cultural aspects of queuing in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from the perspective of an Australian customer and discusses the ways in which their queuing systems reflect upon Argentina’s appearance to outsiders.
Australians are world famous for their queuing. From an early age, young Australian queue jumpers are sent to the back of the line. If there are multiple Automatic Teller Machines available at a bank, Australians will form a single orderly queue, minimizing average waiting time and maximizing efficiency. Australians will always make sure those already at the bar have been served. Australians have a definite sense of social justice when it comes to queuing and it effects how they view the rest of the world.
Now, no matter who or where you are in the world, queuing to receive a service is usually not a pleasant experience. People don’t like to wait for a number of reasons. Amongst many others, they feel like they are wasting time, could be doing something more productive, or don’t like close contact with strangers. There are entire scientific journals, such as Queueing Systems which are devoted to the mathematics and mechanics of queues, and continue to research ways of making queues more efficient and productive for use in areas such as health, traffic, business and the internet. There are also many scholarly articles which discuss the social aspects of queuing and the notions of fairness, fear and anger that can be experienced while queuing.
From an Australian perspective, Porteños, or people from Buenos Aires, certainly aren’t the worst queuers in the world. When the line is short with a single server, like a line for train tickets, they will rarely jump ahead. If there is a person ahead of them near a service point, they will often ask if they are waiting in line. This is entirely different from many places in Asia or Europe, where the concept of queuing equals pushing to the front or loitering near a service point in order to dart in when it becomes available.
However, in Buenos Aires, as in many South American countries, there is a particularly unusual method of queuing (as it appears to an Australian). It can be experienced at large bars, fast food chains, bakeries, photo shops, retail outlets, pharmacies, stationary stores and many other places. This method generally involves waiting in two lines. In one of the lines, the cash transaction is made, while in the other, the desired goods are received.
The order in which a customer waits in these two lines is dependent on the business, but generally, at places such as large bars, or fast food outlets, the cash line is stood in first, a ticket received, and this is then given to the server who reads the ticket and presents the food, drinks, or whatever else is desired.
In other places, such as bakeries, pharmacies, and stationery stores, goods are chosen with the help of an attendant, after waiting in line to access that attendant, and usually presented by the attendant to the cashier for payment. It’s almost like a supermarket, but with someone picking the items you choose off the shelf, and putting them in a trolley you don’t have access to.
The two-line method can be a frustrating, annoying, stressful, and confusing experience for an Australian customer, because it essentially doubles the waiting time they’re used to. It can even mean tripling the waiting time if the customer is unfamiliar with the process; one line to get the product, only to be told a ticket is needed, a second line to get the ticket, and finally the return to the end of first line to get the product.
The two-queue system appears so inefficient to a foreign customer that it’s hard to imagine that there must be a legitimate and beneficial reason for it. A foreigner’s experiences of daily life within a country affect their views of the people from that country and something as simple as a queuing system is no exception. Quick opinions are often formed through conjecture due to an inability or disinterest to gain facts. The following attempts to replicate some of the quick opinions that may be formed and is based solely upon conjecture.
An obvious possible reason for the two line system might be to more easily monitor those persons in contact with the cash. In the two-line system, responsibility for the cash in the register often lies with just a single person. This reduces the temptation a cashier might have to steal money because they can be more easily monitored. If one takes this as the reason for the two queues, the Australian’s impression of Argentineans becomes one of dishonesty and distrust. Argentineans themselves have a phrase for their dishonest nature; la viveza criolla, meaning the cunning native. Employees appear willing to steal from their employers given the chance, and employers appear distrustful of the people they employ.
Once an outsider jumps to this conclusion, it’s easy to jump to others. A popular conclusion amongst foreigners is that many Argentineans working in these positions are so poor they need to steal extra cash to survive. This conclusion is an uncomfortable one, firstly because it assumes that most poor people are thieves, and secondly, because it assumes employers aren’t paying their employees enough to survive.
But perhaps the two line system has more to do with controlling the customer, and stopping them from walking away with goods they haven’t paid for. This is done by making them pay at the cashier first, or by keeping the goods behind the counter until payment. But thefts like this could also be avoided by using a single line if the cash was taken first and products given after payment. Waiting time would be reduced with no risk of ‘walk-aways’. ‘Walk-aways’ are discouraged in countries such as Australia through the use of electronic security devices that detect objects leaving the store that haven’t been paid for.
Three impressions of Argentineans are formed from this; one is that Argentinean customers are willing to steal given the opportunity, reinforcing our notion of la viveza criolla and the dishonest Argentinean. The second has to do with a cultural difference in the importance placed upon customer satisfaction. In Australia if a customer had to continually line up twice, they would complain and possibly not return to the store. The store would lose a customer, and future revenue due to a frustrating wait that could easily be avoided. The third is that Argentineans either don’t have the means or the desire to install electronic security systems, which indirectly reflects on their lack of wealth.
Perhaps the extra security measures are a result of the crash of the Argentinean economy in 2001. After a long period of recession, the peso hit rock bottom, unemployment rose as high as 20%, and the country defaulted on an $80 billion sovereign loan, the largest default in history. Thousands lost their life savings in an instant when bank accounts were frozen, and half the country descended below the poverty line. Under these conditions, it is understandable that an employer would keep a close eye on where his money is going and take measures to ensure it isn’t going into an employee’s pocket. Now, things are recovering. Argentina’s current unemployment rate is around 8% and dropping. But there is an interesting clue to suggest that the crash doesn’t actually have much to do with the use of the two-line system.
That clue is that the double line system is not exclusive to Argentina. Fellow travelers speak of the same system in Chile, Bolivia and Peru. Perhaps, like Australia, these countries have simply inherited their queuing systems from their colonizers. Perhaps the two-line system is traditional.
This seems unlikely though, because, like Australia, Spain currently employs the one-line system. If Spain ever employed the two-line system in the past, they’ve realized its downfalls, and moved on to the more efficient single-line system. I doubt that it’s tradition in Argentina, but if it is, they need to move on, as it’s time consuming.
However, it could be argued that the ticket-first system actually saves time, because access to cash registers is concentrated and servers do not have to wait to use them. There are examples of two line systems in Australia in which this is definitely the case. Examples include pre-paying for bus tickets or train tickets, theatre tickets, movie tickets or concert tickets. However, in all of these cases, the amount of time spent waiting to buy the ticket is usually made up by the amount of time saved when using it.
In Buenos Aires, the likelihood of the two-line system saving time is only good if cash registers are so few that servers must wait for each other to get access to them, or if a person plans to return to the product supply point multiple times with their originally purchased tickets. The simple fact is that the shorter the line, the more products sold because people are less willing to wait longer periods of time. But to create shorter lines, you need to employ more people, and install more cash registers. These things are expensive. So an outsider perceives the lack of cash registers and workers as a lack of money, and Argentineans are again perceived as poor.
Another downfall of the ticketing system, especially in crowded bars, is that if you lose the ticket, you lose the drinks. Obviously if a customer loses a ticket it’s their own fault, but often, when this happens, a customer can’t help but think that the bar knows that some of the tickets are going to get lost, meaning they won’t have to supply the products that been have legitimately been bought. If a person leaves the bar early with tickets in their pocket, again, the bar wins. Also if a ticket doesn’t print correctly and the bar person can’t read it, the drinks disappear. An outsider can’t help but think that the bar does this on purpose, reinforcing our idea of the dishonest Argentinean. If the bar doesn’t do this on purpose, an outsider wonders why they don’t change the system to ensure it doesn’t happen in the future, reinforcing our idea of a cultural difference in the value placed on customer satisfaction.
Another problem at bars is due to the length of the queues. Buenos Aires appears to have a serious problem with overcrowding in night clubs. In late 2004, 194 people were killed and another 714 injured after a fire broke out at the República Cromañón nightclub. Many died of smoke inhalation and many others were crushed to death as people tried to escape through inadequate exits. Because lines are so long to get drinks, people tend to order larger amounts to avoid returning to the queue later. Friends will also get them to cash their tickets to avoid standing in the line themselves.
This can cause confusion between the customer and the bartender. The bartender will take the ticket, serve only some of the drinks, and then move on to another customer. In the meantime, the original customer waits, and tries to say they’re missing a drink, while the rest of the line pushes from behind. The pressure from the line behind eventually causes the customer to leave short-changed. Again, perhaps it’s not purposeful, but an outsider sees it as rude, annoying, and dishonest.
Using queue theory, mathematicians can find the perfect balance between the amount of customers moving through the system and their waiting time, the number of service points and their installation costs, the probability and amount of theft by employees and customers, and customer satisfaction and their likelihood of returning. It’s impossible to know whether that balance has been found in Argentina, and it’s affected by things such as an employee’s level of pay and the value they place on employment. But it certainly appears inefficient, and unless every single employee is a thief, it’s highly unlikely the balance has been found within the current system.
It’s interesting that something as simple as queuing can provide insights into a people and their culture. To an Australian, the two-queue system makes Argentineans appear dishonest, distrustful, inefficient, overly bureaucratic, and unwilling or unable to think of better solutions to problems. Appearances that from experience, are entirely unwarranted. If Argentineans rethink this system, it will not only create better impressions on foreigners, but benefit their economy.
References
Mikes, G. 1946, How to be an alien : a handbook for beginners and advanced pupils, Wingate, London & New York.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
One more song...
To add to the list of 10 below is this one;
We no speak Americano by Yolanda Be Cool and DCUP.
You really can't get away from this song here. It's played everywhere. It's hugely popular and has been for at least the last three months. And I've just realised that it's Australian. Go Aussies! It's just a pity that something a little less annoying couldn't be a popular Aussie song.
We no speak Americano by Yolanda Be Cool and DCUP.
You really can't get away from this song here. It's played everywhere. It's hugely popular and has been for at least the last three months. And I've just realised that it's Australian. Go Aussies! It's just a pity that something a little less annoying couldn't be a popular Aussie song.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
I haven't blogged in ages.
And i don't really know why. Lots has happened which i coulda wrote about. For example, i still haven't written about how i moved into a new place with an Argentinean woman (who's our age - we're adults) who has a cat that's called Malbec, which is a type of grape that's used in wine here and is pretty tasty, and the cat is really strange, because it meows a lot and it always attacks people. And i moved into this place before i went on the trip with the Bren Dog which was quite long ago now.
Another thing i've been doing is I've been taking spanish classes at a private school, which i also haven't written about, and i've been taking them because the classes at La UCA are a hopeless joke. They're a joke, but a really unfunny one. Like a joke about chickens crossing the road or something. Or this one in Spanish:
- Mi hijo, en su nuevo trabajo, se encuentra como pez en el agua.
- Qué hace?
- Nada
Don't worry if you don't speak Spanish. Let me just tell you that it's not a very funny joke.
And Em got called the best teacher in the world by one student.
And in one spanish class, my teacher asked us to discuss abortion.
And last night i went to a gay bar with a new friend who has the same last name as me.
I mean... c'mon. I should be blogging that, right?
But look...
I've finished another assignment this week, and i've only got one to go, and Argentinean uni finishes in a couple of weeks, and dad arrives in a few days, and there's the possibility of my little brother coming to visit, so...
...i'm gonna write more things on this blog...
I can just imagine you're all giddy with anticipation.
Another thing i've been doing is I've been taking spanish classes at a private school, which i also haven't written about, and i've been taking them because the classes at La UCA are a hopeless joke. They're a joke, but a really unfunny one. Like a joke about chickens crossing the road or something. Or this one in Spanish:
- Mi hijo, en su nuevo trabajo, se encuentra como pez en el agua.
- Qué hace?
- Nada
Don't worry if you don't speak Spanish. Let me just tell you that it's not a very funny joke.
And Em got called the best teacher in the world by one student.
And in one spanish class, my teacher asked us to discuss abortion.
And last night i went to a gay bar with a new friend who has the same last name as me.
I mean... c'mon. I should be blogging that, right?
But look...
I've finished another assignment this week, and i've only got one to go, and Argentinean uni finishes in a couple of weeks, and dad arrives in a few days, and there's the possibility of my little brother coming to visit, so...
...i'm gonna write more things on this blog...
I can just imagine you're all giddy with anticipation.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Rainy Day in BA
The last day of August was a rainy one here in Buenos Aires. Here are some photos of it. Click on the images to see better quality versions.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Mannequins of La Paz
We saw these mannequins in and around the Mercado Negro in La Paz. Brennen and I thought they were hilarious. Em, less so.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Ten songs I've heard a lot of in Argentina
Here's a list of ten songs (in no particular order) which I've heard ad nauseam since my arrival in Argentina. If you're only going to listen to one, make it number 10.
1. Sexy Bitch – David Guetta featuring Akon
If this list was to be in order, this would be at the top of it. I've heard this song so many times its not funny anymore. But it's still offensive.
2. Poker Face – Lady Gaga
Incredibly over-played. Sometimes three times an hour, depending on the station. My least favorite song on the list. It's simply annoying.
3. Guapa - Diego Torres
Quite a catchy song. He's the only currently active Argentinean on the list. I've heard this song a lot partly because he does an advertisement for head and shoulders and they use the song in it.
4 .Waka Waka - Shakira
Don't know if it was the same everywhere else, but you couldn't get away from this song during the world cup. You may not have heard the Spanish version.
5. Waving flag – K’naan w/ David Bisbal.
This one too. Every game... Be careful if you are offended by product placement.
6. Si No Te Hubieras Ido - Marco Antonio Solís
This guy's Mexican. And off-the-charts cheesy.
7. Te vas – Grupo 5
Peruvian group with a massive body of work. Catchy song. A fine example of Cumbia.
8. Egoista – Belinda ft Pitbull
Belinda's originally Spanish, now living in Mexico. Pitbull grew up in Miami Florida, and calls himself Cuban-American.
9. Por Una Cabeza – Carlos Gardel
Carlos Gardel is one of Argentina's national heroes. He wrote and originally sang this song, but this version is the one you see in 'Scent of a Woman', with the violin played by Itzhak Perlman. I'm not an expert, but this is probably a pretty bad example of tango dancing.
10. Adios Nonino - Astor Piazzolla
The original of this one also had lyrics, but this is Bob Zimmerman’s (Not that Bob Zimmerman...) interpretation, arranged for the royal dutch wedding of Prince Willem Alexander to Princess Máxima (Máxima Zorreguieta). Astor Piazzolla was also Argentinean.
1. Sexy Bitch – David Guetta featuring Akon
If this list was to be in order, this would be at the top of it. I've heard this song so many times its not funny anymore. But it's still offensive.
2. Poker Face – Lady Gaga
Incredibly over-played. Sometimes three times an hour, depending on the station. My least favorite song on the list. It's simply annoying.
3. Guapa - Diego Torres
Quite a catchy song. He's the only currently active Argentinean on the list. I've heard this song a lot partly because he does an advertisement for head and shoulders and they use the song in it.
4 .Waka Waka - Shakira
Don't know if it was the same everywhere else, but you couldn't get away from this song during the world cup. You may not have heard the Spanish version.
5. Waving flag – K’naan w/ David Bisbal.
This one too. Every game... Be careful if you are offended by product placement.
6. Si No Te Hubieras Ido - Marco Antonio Solís
This guy's Mexican. And off-the-charts cheesy.
7. Te vas – Grupo 5
Peruvian group with a massive body of work. Catchy song. A fine example of Cumbia.
8. Egoista – Belinda ft Pitbull
Belinda's originally Spanish, now living in Mexico. Pitbull grew up in Miami Florida, and calls himself Cuban-American.
9. Por Una Cabeza – Carlos Gardel
Carlos Gardel is one of Argentina's national heroes. He wrote and originally sang this song, but this version is the one you see in 'Scent of a Woman', with the violin played by Itzhak Perlman. I'm not an expert, but this is probably a pretty bad example of tango dancing.
10. Adios Nonino - Astor Piazzolla
The original of this one also had lyrics, but this is Bob Zimmerman’s (Not that Bob Zimmerman...) interpretation, arranged for the royal dutch wedding of Prince Willem Alexander to Princess Máxima (Máxima Zorreguieta). Astor Piazzolla was also Argentinean.
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