I was standing in line at the McDonald's in Delhi's Vasant Vihar one day last week. It wasn't lunchtime yet so there wasn't a crowd. I stood at one of the counters, behind a woman who was being served, and waited. A minute later, two young ladies came in. As I watched, they nonchalantly came and stood in line in front of me. When I politely but firmlypointed out that I was in line, they first seemed surprised that I would have the bad manners to bring this up. Then, seeing the smoke emanating from my ears, they quickly apologized and went to stand at the back.
周的一天，我来到德里市瓦桑比哈区(Vasant Vihar)的一家麦当劳(McDonald's)。当时不到午餐时间，店里还没什么人。我站在一个柜台前等待，排在我前面的女士正在点餐。一分钟后，两位年轻的女士走进店里。在我的眼皮底下，她们若无其事地站到我前面。当我礼貌而坚决地告诉她们我正在排队时，她们一开始显得很惊讶，好像倒是我提出这件事很不礼貌似的；但马上，见我一副怒不可遏的样子，两人赶忙道歉，排到了我后面。
This is not the first time this has happened and I'm sure it won't be the last. In India, I've had people butt in front of me in lines at stores, banks, hospitals, and airports. OK, so I may look like a patsy but I'm sure I'm not the only one who has experienced this. Most people also drive in this same way; instead of driving in lanes, we are constantlytrying to edge ahead of the car in front. Why is it that so many Indians try to jump the queue?
这已不是我第一次遭遇这样的情况──而我也很确定这绝不会是最后一次。无论在印度的商店、银行、医院还是机场，我都有过排队时遭人插队的经历。好吧，也许我看上去是个挺容易欺负的人，但我相信自己绝不是唯一有过这种经历的人。大多数人也以同样的方式开车──我们总是想抢到前一辆车的前面，而不是老老实实行驶在自己的车道里。问题是，为什么有这么多印度人都在想方设法插队呢？
We live in a hugely-populated, resource-constrained country. As a result of that, two things may be happening. One is that we've stood in so many queues during our lives, we're tired of standing in queues and we just don't want to do it anymore. The other is that we've seen that if we wait patiently in a queue, by the time our turn comes up, the item is sold out. Have you heard the saying, 'Good things come to those who wait'? Not here, you haven't. In this environment, he who hesitates is lost for sure. With 1.2 billion people eyeing the same McAloo Tikki, we can't afford to stand in line.
我们生活在一个人口庞大而资源紧张的国家，正因于此，有两件事总有可能会发生：其一，在我们的生活中，我们已经排了不计其数的队，我们厌倦排队，我们只是不想再这样排下去；其二，我们见到过，假如我们耐心排队，在轮到我们之前，我们要买的东西就已经售罄。好事属于那些愿意等待的人──你听说过这句话吗？也许吧，但绝不是在这里。在这里，谁犹豫不决谁就将百分之百地失败。想想看，当12亿人都在盯着同一份McAloo Tikki汉堡包时，还要按顺序排队？我们可承受不起。
It could also be because our society is very hierarchical. We intrinsically believe in inequality. Thomas Friedman may have hallucinations of a flat world but ours is vertical based on money, influence, education, caste, skin color, and the list goes on. We've all had the experience of waiting in a long line and seeing someone ushered through before us; no doubt a friend of the DM, GM, or PM. 'First come, first served' has little meaning here. It's more like 'VIP come, VIP served.' If I'm more important than you, why should I stand in line behind you? My time is more precious and my needs more valid. Surely I deserve it faster, and more of it too.
这种现象可能也归因于我们社会中很强的等级观念──因为我们笃信，人与人并不平等。或许托马斯·弗里德曼(Thomas Friedman)会幻想世界是平的，但我们的社会却按财富、权势、教育、地位、肤色等要素把人分作三六九等。我们都有过这样的经历：我们排着长长的队等待，却看到一些人先于我们得到服务──毫无疑问，这个人肯定是区域经理或是总经理的朋友，搞不好还是总理的朋友。"先到先得"的理论在这里可不大好使。这里的情况，更像是"大人物到，大人物得"。想想看，如果我比你更有权势，凭什么我要站在你后面排队？我的时间更宝贵，我的需求也更有说服力，我当然应该先得──而且得到更多。
But what happens to those of us who are not VIPs, or even IPs? Maybe we are just Ps. Then the trick is to pretend we're more important than the other guys. Berkeley professor Cameron Anderson suggests that 'overconfidence provides adaptive social benefits' such as 'higher peer-perceptions of ability and elevated social status.' More simply put, in the immortal words of some modern philosopher, 'If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull
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