An ugly move

The following content aims to bring up a phenomenon, instead of criticizing certain individuals.

This Monday’s afternoon, I took the shuttle bus to head to the RV hostel as usual. As the bus approached the hostel, some guys stood up and they already stood at the front door of the bus before it stopped. After the door opened, they rushed to the gate of the hostel and then the canteen. One of them even intended to go to canteen through a shortcut which is not allowed to be used by boarders.

This happens almost in every weekday afternoon since May.

That standing up before the bus stops does not happen if the bus’s destination is NUS. Apparently, the ugly move only happens when bus sends us to the hostel, because people want to avoid standing at the back of the long queue in the canteen. We NUS boys have supper in the hostel which has limited food providers. Thus, it is common to see dozens of people in only one queue. If people can be in the front of the queue, they can save some time.

So why do I call it an ugly move? The first reason is that it is not decent at all. Basically, everyone is supposed to have an equal chance to stand in the front of a queue as well as the back of the queue, if we think in a mathematical way. However, there are always some guys who finish their supper before some other people get the chance to order their meals. Obviously, they gain the priority at the expense of sacrificing others’ profits. The price is to be running while others are walking and to be standing while others are sitting. Seemingly not so decent, isn’t it?

The second reason has something to do with the forming of this phenomenon. I believe at the very beginning, few wants to be the indecent one. As time goes by, some guys broke the tacit agreement and started to walk faster. Some other guys considered it unfair and started to run in turn, which led to a vicious circle, which means the move is so ugly that it arouses people’s selfishness in their deep within.

Should someone be blamed? My answer is “No”. No matter whether we are active runners, passive runners or walkers, we human beings are all selfish fundamentally. I do not think selfish people have the right to accuse others of being selfish. After all, that ugly move is immoral rather than illegal. In short, it is all about human nature.

Finally, let me give an interesting assumption. If we let those runners get off bus first and then everybody walks to the canteen decently as we are supposed to do, it will not make any difference in terms of the order of the queue. However, we all know it will not happen. Maybe one reason is that there are always some guys who are afraid others are more selfish than them.

I do not expect the ugly move will be extinct one day. Anyway, this phenomenon reflects many problems which are worth pondering even after reading my essay.