Manage Your Muse Musings

Things to Do While Waiting in Line
by Lynn Cutts

No matter how you feel about the new security measures across the country, they are here to stay, bringing with them complicated regulations, increasingly long lines and extended waits. When you add to this the usual seasonal delays, crowded stores, and holiday hustle and bustle, I can almost guarantee that at some point or other this holiday season, you will be standing in line. So whether it's at the security check in at the airport, or just the check out at your local grocery store, here are some things you can do to amuse yourself while you're waiting.

Catch up your to-do lists, calendars, etc. on your cell phone or PDA. This might be a good time to organize all those little entries that never seem to get sorted out. Weed through your phone lists, update your calendars.
Make phone calls on your cell phone – but please, try and be unobtrusive.
See how long you can stand on one foot. Now, try the other one.
Play mind games: Can you find on item beginning with each letter of the alphabet, in order? For example, A for airplane, B for baggage, C for cart, etc.
Bring along pencil and a game book of crossword puzzles, word jumbles or encoded quotations, and work them in line.
Go on a mind trip: try and remember things. For example, you might try and recall every meal you've ever eaten in an airport, or everything you've eaten this past week. Can you recall the words to that old song you used to know? How about every car you've ever owned, (for some of us, that's easy!) or every trip you've ever taken. What was your phone number when you were in kindergarten? How about high school? Your best friend's phone number?
Here's another mind game you can play with someone else. Say the name of a geographical location, such as England. Now your opponent has to come up with the name of a geographical location beginning with the last letter of your word, in this case, "D." Perhaps your companion says "Delaware." Now it's your turn: you have to name a place starting with "E." When you get tired of place names, you might try animals, foods, whatever you can think of.
Do you remember the game "I spy?" I goes "I spy with my little eye something that is___," and you name a characteristic of the object you have chosen. Your partner tries to guess the item.
Carry a deck of cards with you. You can't play them in line, but afterwards, while waiting (and waiting and waiting) at the gate, they can really occupy your time.
Start a conversation with the people around you. You already have something in common: you're both traveling, at the same airport, and standing in line. Use that as an ice breaker. But if someone doesn't want to talk, don't push them.
Rehearse an upcoming presentation, telephone call, conversation, your audio logo, whatever, in your head. Silently, please, or they'll haul you off to the looney bin.
Make a mental list of everything you want for Christmas, or Hanukkah, or Kwanza, or your birthday. The sky's the limit!
Think of the top ten places you'd like to travel to. Now think of the ten places you'd hate to go. (By the way, these are also good conversation topics.)
Eat your lunch. With the majority of the airlines no longer serving food on their domestic flights, this might be the only chance you'll have to eat for a while. Pack disposable items–no knives!–and finger foods.
Write postcards. Bring along a small piece of stiff cardboard you can use as a writing surface, then toss it when you get through the line.
Read a newspaper or magazine, and throw it away when you're done.
Listen to books on tape. You can buy the tapes at a used bookstore for half price, then either throw them away when you're finished, or return them for credit. Some libraries lend audio books too.
Notice things. How many people are in blue jeans? How many leather jackets?
Make up stories about the people around you. Who is getting a divorce? Who is flying home to be with a loved one? Who is going on a business trip? Now expand those stories–what is that salesman selling, and will he make is quota? What does that woman's husband do for a living? Be outrageous.
If you're traveling with someone, save up (jot down, if your memory has holes in it like mine does) pleasant topics for conversation. Share jokes you've looked up on the Web, discuss a movie or television show you've seen, a book you've both read.
Play electronic games on your GameBoy, PDA, or cell phone.

Things to Do While Waiting in Line by Lynn Cutts

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Things to Do While Waiting in Line
by Lynn Cutts