Sunday, March 3, 2013

The Israeli Line-Up: Waiting...



"Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come,
or a plane to go or the mail to come,
or the rain to go or the phone to ring,
or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting"

Dr. Suess from "Oh the Places You'll  Go"

I think about Dr. Suess often when I am in Israel.  Lots of different kinds of line-ups, that often involve lots of waiting.  

In fairness, I think the country has improved quite significantly over the years.  Most places that expect a lengthy wait now have number systems.  At least people know who is next.  When I was a student at Hebrew University a few years ago (okay, more than 20...), we would make our way over to the bank.  There were no numbers.  Each person who came in would ask "who is last in line?".  They would then try to remember who they were after.  Of course along the way, some people would leave to go do some shopping or other errands.  They would say - "save my spot - I'll be back soon."  You can imagine the chaos that often ensued, especially when a person who thought he or she was next suddenly wound up with three people appearing and claiming to be ahead (they had all been out running errands).

Nowadays the banks use number systems - which at least means you can sit down in some big comfy chairs while waiting your turn.  Often things move along expeditiously - but, not always.  Even if there are comfy chairs, that still does not make you feel any better about waiting 45 minutes for a transaction.

A visit to the cell phone office can still be a full day activity - okay at least a half day.  Fortunately, they will give you a number and then send you a text message when it's your turn.  So you can go have a coffee, do some shopping, wander around the mall - all while waiting your turn.  We have had to wait more than 45 minutes to meet with someone at Cellcom - and then the meeting itself, especially if you are changing or updating a service, can easily take more than an hour.  (To be fair, if you are trying to negotiate a price plan with Rogers in Canada, you might find yourself tied up on the phone for at least 1 1/2 hours...)

Need to mail a package or pay a bill at the post office in Israel?  Better pack a lunch or at least bring a coffee and a book.  The line-ups are daunting, though there is usually a working number system.  Fortunately, fewer and fewer people have any reason to be in the post office these days.  This applies to Israel as much as it applies anywhere else in the world, although somehow the post office still seems a lot more crowded in Israel than in other countries.

But there is something unique about many of the Israeli line-ups...maybe it has to do with the level of impatience that you might see.  Israelis don't hestitate to step out of line and try get a manager involved who can quicken the line-up movement somehow.

One of my favourite and most comical experiences was watching a veteran Israeli family member (not immediate family - and no names given...) tackle the hours-long line up at  the bituach leumi office in the Rehovot area.  Approaching the number dispenser, he saw that he was number 110 and the line up was only in the 60s or 70s.  He could have easily been there for 1 1/2 hours.  Fortunately, he found a crumpled up 58 that had been discarded after use and managed to convince a clerk that he had simply missed his turn.  He was in and out in 10 minutes.

Another occasion was our experience at the Ministry of Transportation, waiting to get a driver's licence soon after first arriving in Israel.  We were in line along with at least 50 or 60 people.  Suddenly, there was announcement that the clerks are all taking their morning coffee break - at the same time.  So from 10:15 to 10:30 a.m., all 10 clerks shuffled off for a coffee break and nothing moved until they had all enjoyed their Java.  Incredible.

Then of course, there is the airport. For those arriving in Israel, at customs, it just looks like a giant swarm of people with no distinct line ups.  This is because the line demarcations only run for a few feet from the wickets.  After that, there is no demarcation - so everyone just finds a place to wait wherever they can - and the real craziness happens as people approach their turn.  Israelis can avoid all of these lines by registering for a quick check through, free, as long as you have an Israeli passport.

Line ups to board planes area also an experience.  If you fly most airlines, other than El-Al, they try to use an orderly boarding system.  They will only allow people to board if their row numbers have been called.  Most airlines will actuall enforce this.  So if you are waiting to board an Air Canada flight or a U.S. airline, and they have only called "rows 30 to 40" - they will not let you board if you are in row 18.  If it is El Al - they don't bother trying to enforce these rules.  So they simply call "passengers on rows 40 or higher" and everyone just moves into a big clump and makes their way to the front.  When I asked a friend of mine about this, (who happens to work for El-Al), his answer was that the Israeli customers just simply refused to follow these rules, so El Al gave up.

On the positive side, Israel now does a great job of managing most medical and dental appointments. You can make an appointment on-line and get a fairly short window.  I also found that the passport line-ups in Israel seemed to be quite a bit shorter than the equivalent Canadian line-up.  Technicians and service people will usually give you a very narrow window if something should happen to break down or if you are having something delivered.  And the technicians will come quite promptly.  In Canada or the U.S., they will often say "we will come between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m." or give you some other 4 hour window.  In Israel, they will usually narrow that down to 1 or 2 hours and will send you a text message when they are on their way.

Overall, there are people waiting everywhere, all over the world, so I'm not sure it's fair to say that there is more waiting in Israel than anywhere else.  And certainly if we consider the real meaning of Dr. Suess's words, I think it is probably fair to say that more Israelis are action-oriented and spend less time just waiting...

While, clearly, there are as many Israelis "waiting for Friday night" as other people Dr. Suess may have had in mind, the history of entrepreneurship in Israel shows that many Israelis are not willing to just wait around and prefer to take action.

That may not apply in the current round of coalition talks - as many different players seem to be "waiting" for something to happen.  Just as Israel seems to be "waiting" for some kind of breakthrough with the Palestinians.  And of course, Avigdor Lieberman  is waiting for his trial, while former President Moshe Katzav is waiting for his sentence to end.

There is still a great deal of waiting in Israel and it often seems like much more waiting than in North America.  But there is probably also a lot more action as well.



Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come,
or a plane to go or the mail to come,
or the rain to go or the phone to ring,
or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting
- See more at: http://www.bravenewlife.com/11/the-waiting-place/#sthash.lPAEuVk2.dpuf Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come,
or a plane to go or the mail to come,
or the rain to go or the phone to ring,
or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting
Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come,
or a plane to go or the mail to come,
or the rain to go or the phone to ring,
or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting
- See more at: http://www.bravenewlife.com/11/the-waiting-place/#sthash.lPAEuVk2.dpuf
Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come,
or a plane to go or the mail to come,
or the rain to go or the phone to ring,
or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting
- See more at: http://www.bravenewlife.com/11/the-waiting-place/#sthash.lPAEuVk2.dpuf

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