"It's just before 06:00 on a Friday morning and on a busy central London street a queue is growing by the second. It's dark and chilly, but I'm told the people at the front of this line have been here since 20:00 last night. Christina Spence is waiting with hundreds of other people who want to be the first shoppers at Korean cosmetics retailer Skin Cupid's first store."
"No longer an inconvenience or a barrier between you and what you really want to get to, queuing is becoming an activity in itself. But why? Twenty-six-year-old Maryam has been standing in line since 05:00. "I get to meet new people and have a really nice time," Maryam explains, as she wraps her arm around someone she first met this morning."
A long queue formed before dawn outside a new Skin Cupid store as shoppers waited overnight to be first inside. Many people choose to queue for the excitement of arrival, a sense of occasion, and the chance to meet like-minded others. Historic examples such as book launches and Wimbledon show similar willingness to wait. Queuing increasingly functions as a social ritual that fosters camaraderie, spontaneous friendships, and small communities. Families and young people willingly brave weather and early hours to exchange waiting stories and create shared experiences around retail openings and events.
Read at www.bbc.com
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