06/02/2002   English German

  Edition # 40  
San Francisco, 06-02-2002


Figure [1]: Construction worker busy bodies

Another mass phenomenon is what I call the "people's run," a group dynamic that occurs when a crowd of people suddenly starts running. I first noticed this peculiarity when we were standing in line at airport immigration upon entering the country. For Japanese citizens, there were about ten lines open for queuing, which the steady stream of arriving people distributed themselves evenly across. Suddenly, another counter opened at one end —- and as if pulled by a string, the arriving people accelerated really fast to the speed of a "people's run" to line up at the new counter. Everything proceeds in an extremely controlled manner, and it is very rare for someone to be jostled. (About as often as in West Germany, a little less than in East Germany. In the USA or Great Britain, however, it *never* happens that someone jostles you; that is considered a mortal sin). However, people in Japan do not aggressively insist on their right of way; in case of doubt, they will let you go ahead just before a collision. You also often see people, even those of advanced age, in suits running through the city, probably because they're late for something. In the USA, on the other hand, no one ever runs -- except for joggers and criminals on the run. If someone in the USA is running in non-sports attire, you'd better take cover because there might be a shootout soon.

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