Food-truck lineup a good way to reconnect with human race

I and the man in front of me introduced ourselves and exchanged small talk. No politics.

During the next two hours I met quite a few other people, too. Waiting in lineups for food has become a part of the Music in the Park experience. The City and sponsors should be proud of this annual free summer series — this particular performance was especially good and the park was packed to the gunnels with lawn chairs and umbrellas. When the band played Folsom Prison Blues I all but broke into a two-step.

The truck ran out of hot dogs just before I made it to the front of the line. A couple of minutes after I had ordered a couple of burgers and some fries instead, they ran out of food entirely. As a big ‘X’ was taped across the menu, those of us standing off to the side waiting for our orders to be filled were assured we’d get our food.

A man who’d been waiting quite a while said he was diabetic and they got him his burger right away. As each order was ready, a name was shouted out — when ‘Kate’s’ turn came up I tried claiming it was me but it didn’t work.

In many other countries, there would have been a riot and looting by this point, but this is Canada. We waited patiently. The order takers worked patiently and as quickly as they could. The cook worked, very patiently.

Eventually, a few people gave up and asked for their money back, but not many. Nobody became disorderly or even grumbled. I stepped up and asked where I was in the scheme of things. The very pleasant woman shuffled through a stack of orders and said, “Fifteen minutes.”

Twenty minutes later, there was a new announcement: “Sorry, everyone, we’re out of buns!”

I said I’d take my fries and Diet Coke and cancel the burgers. Gosh, she explained, someone was on the way to Safeway to stock up on buns and my order was next — wouldn’t I like to wait?

She seemed so determined to get me my burgers that I relented. Sure enough, it wasn’t long after that when the buns arrived and — feeling as though I’d won the lottery — I was handed two burgers and a side of fries.

“Take the rest of the night off,” I told her. She seemed to appreciate the advice.

I made my way back through the crowd with my prizes and re-took my lawn chair just as the band was wrapping up.

The University of Ottawa has a new self-test you can take to find out how long you’ll live. The people who created the test would be horrified to know I spent two hours in a lineup for burgers and fries.

Food-truck burgers and fries are the best, but I guess that’s not the point. People who try to guess how long you’ll live worry about things like heart attacks and strokes and ask a lot of questions about what you eat.

The stats show most of us could add six years onto our lives if we spent less time waiting in lineups to get burgers, hot dogs and fries.

But the point is, and there is one, the patience demonstrated in that lineup was impressive. I was even impressed with my own, and I tend to be in a hurry.

We live our lives these days rushing from one place to another, cussing out the driver in front of us, doing a dance waiting for an elevator, waiting for somebody to answer the phone, or cooling our jets in the doctor’s office.

We’re constantly being told to “be patient” but that only makes it worse. Don’t tell me to be patient when I’m waiting for somebody to leave a parking spot on Victoria Street as they sit there checking their text messages before finally pulling out.

But in the food-truck lineup, we were a band of brothers and sisters in a common cause. I admit there were moments when I considered bailing, but it’s one of those things where you get in so deep you can’t quit.

The Merriam-Webster definition of impatient is “restless or short of temper especially under irritation, delay, or opposition.”

That sounds like a recipe for a heart attack to me. Much better to put away the phone and get to know your lineup neighbours in the knowledge there’s a burger and fries — with a little luck — waiting as the reward.

by Armchair Mayor

Food-truck lineup a good way to reconnect with human race

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