Nine Waits...
Added 2023-03-22 01:55:05 +0000 UTCI struggle through my routine like a worm harvester trudging through the mire.
I rouse briefly during the longest part of my daily commute: the lift queue. In an austere lobby, dozens of residents wait their turn to reach other parts of the tower. Few of us look down at the stripes on the floor, falling automatically into the queue corresponding to our chosen floor.
I watch a confused straggler look down at the stripes and fold awkwardly into the queue for an lift that only visits every seventh level.
I imagine myself asking, you want to be in the express lane, right?
I imagine myself saying, when I was first moved here I could never find my queue either.
I imagine myself asking, are you a visitor or a new resident?
Of course I don't say anything, I just pull the music player from my pocket and thumb the skip button until my earbuds find music that will lull me back to a gentle daze.
My queue reaches me before the bewildered stranger, and I step onto the lift car.
