Take A Number!?!

The superman had yesterday off and we knew we were headed to Port Alberni in the afternoon to deal with taxes and visit with friends. So we had a morning to waste...Breakie, haircut, wash the van...and to pay Grant's speeding ticket from last week (bad superman)...

To pay a ticket here you have to go to the Service BC Centre...BC's equivalent of the DMV. When we walked in the thirty or more chairs, in the waiting room (corner) were full and I give my superhero that nice we're going to be here forever look.

So we take a number, find the last two empty chairs, and watch the big black digital sign with big red numbers, there are 37 people in front of us.


So there are signs everywhere instructing people what to do...

1. Take a number (big red circular thing, dispensing singular paper tickets, they've been around forever)

2. Find a seat, back chairs in the corner

3.WATCH for your number, the sign beeps LOUDLY each time a new number comes up.

Three steps, how hard can it be? if you make it to the black chairs you have ONE job.

My annoyance at having to wait forever soon turned into absolute amusement and delight.

People, oh people, oh how I love to watch people....

A lady walked in and exclaimed "Oh wonderful, no line!" and proceeded to stand a foot from the ticket holder and signs for at least 5 minutes until someone pointed out that those 40 plus people in the chairs in the corner were actually in front of her."Really?!?"

There were at least 5 more people that did the exact same thing in the following 20 minutes...like us people in chairs had decided to have a some R&R, who knew the service centre was the new Starbucks...

Then there were the people that couldn't quiet manage the ticket dispenser thing...pull down for ONE ticket(says the sign). Time after time people would pull up or out and get a 8 or 9 tickets, in a ribbon, thus defeating the purpose of the ticket system all together...And causing the workers to come out behind there shield to call...Do we have 83...84...85, finally 88 stands up. There was even one guy who said so "which numbers mine" staring at his 10 or more ticket ribbon...I guess the numerical system is a stretch for some people :)

So it was a miracle some people even made it to the black chairs...If you make it to the chairs you have ONE job left. Watch. The. Sign. Easy right? NOPE!

So the sign beeps loudly...93...94..95...the lady even comes out again to check numbers...93, 94, 95, 96? Bingo 96 proceeds to her indicated kiosk. Three minutes later, the guys sitting across from us looks up at the sign. "what happened to 93?" They called it twice ....Then a few minutes after that, a young kid in the corner sporting a tie-dye t-shirt says "Hey dude!?! (I heart Vancouver Island) where's 95 go"

Seriously?!? the red numbers the size of your smart car and the beeping that could wake a sleeping dinosaur. Threw you off??? Yup!

Oh people...its Darwin's theory in action at the service BC centre...

I was actually disappointed when Superman's number was called...it was just getting good and then we had to leave...Dang it. When ever my teenager make me feel like I'm dumber than a rock, I'm just going to the service centre and hang out in those black chairs for a while! :)