WEBVTT - Second Cup: Have more fun in line

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to have a few fallback options for

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<v Speaker 1>having more fun. Inline lines can be incredibly frustrating. They

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<v Speaker 1>feel like a waste of time on this planet, and

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<v Speaker 1>in many cases they are just that torments created because

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<v Speaker 1>of someone's mismanagement. But if you can't do anything about

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<v Speaker 1>the line's existence, at least you can tolerate the time

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<v Speaker 1>instead of wishing precious minutes away. Sometimes we can predict lines,

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<v Speaker 1>and sometimes we can't. On my family's recent vacation to

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<v Speaker 1>the Virgin Islands, my family was warned repeatedly that for

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<v Speaker 1>the home bound leg of the trip, we needed to

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<v Speaker 1>get to the airport in St. Thomas three hours ahead

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<v Speaker 1>of time. Even my frequent flying husband, who likes to

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<v Speaker 1>show up at precisely the moment when the plane boards

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<v Speaker 1>and no earlier, thought the warnings sounded ominous. So we

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<v Speaker 1>got there early and then proceeded to get through customs

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<v Speaker 1>and security in about twenty minutes, and that includes waiting

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<v Speaker 1>for my bag to be searched. But then the next day,

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<v Speaker 1>when my husband took our eldest kid to camp they

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<v Speaker 1>got stuck in a two hour line just to check in.

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<v Speaker 1>Who would have thought These days we do almost always

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<v Speaker 1>have our phones with us, which can make waiting in

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<v Speaker 1>line mildly more tolerable. You can consider it a guilt

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<v Speaker 1>free time to scroll around online, looking at pretty pictures

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<v Speaker 1>on Instagram or reading the snarky comments on someone's Facebook post.

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<v Speaker 1>Or I guess this is really a better idea. You

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<v Speaker 1>can do more cerebral things and read through that article

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<v Speaker 1>you have been saving, or read a book on the

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<v Speaker 1>Kindle or nook app. If you don't have to pay

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<v Speaker 1>immediate attention because maybe the line is moving quite slowly,

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<v Speaker 1>feel free to put on your headphones and listen to

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<v Speaker 1>a podcast or some music. This can help you tune

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<v Speaker 1>out other folks who might be doing some of these

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<v Speaker 1>other suggestions, like, if it seems appropriate, you could have

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<v Speaker 1>a quick and lighthearted chat with the people around you. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>this can be risky because if things don't go well,

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<v Speaker 1>you can't escape and the other person can't escape either,

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<v Speaker 1>which could be awkward for them. But almost everyone, and

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<v Speaker 1>let's say a security line in the Caribbean island was

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<v Speaker 1>probably just on vacation. You can ask what they did,

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<v Speaker 1>what they saw. If it's their first time there, did

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<v Speaker 1>they enjoy diving? Would they do it again with that group?

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<v Speaker 1>And so forth. Now, if you are in line with

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<v Speaker 1>someone else that you know, you can use the opportunity

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<v Speaker 1>to chat about life in general. I hope my husband

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<v Speaker 1>and son use their time in that to our camp

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<v Speaker 1>check in line to bond. Maybe not, but maybe they did.

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<v Speaker 1>I actually have some fond memories of waiting in a

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<v Speaker 1>line at Animal Kingdom at Disney World a few years ago,

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<v Speaker 1>because I was there only with my big kids. The

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<v Speaker 1>little ones had left with my husband, and the heat

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<v Speaker 1>had broken as the sun went down. It was an

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<v Speaker 1>absolutely lovely Florida night. My kids didn't have their devices

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<v Speaker 1>with them, and so they chatted with me for the hour.

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<v Speaker 1>It might help to look up a list of conversation

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<v Speaker 1>starters and ask your partner one of them, as long

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<v Speaker 1>as you're considerate of everyone around you. Now, of course,

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<v Speaker 1>lines are very different if you've got little kids with you.

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<v Speaker 1>Corralling them can be tough, but sometimes a game of

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<v Speaker 1>I Spy or giving them little things to play with

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<v Speaker 1>like poppets can help. Or hand out the snacks one

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<v Speaker 1>gummy at a time. Can get you through something of

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<v Speaker 1>a weight dolled out every thirty seconds or so. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>at least it's something I would say that, if at

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<v Speaker 1>all possible, try not to wait in line with little kids.

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<v Speaker 1>Look for any way around it. That's why we have

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<v Speaker 1>t s, a pre check and do fast passes when

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<v Speaker 1>we can, or any other way that you might be

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<v Speaker 1>able to skip a line. But in any case, usually

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<v Speaker 1>the time in line isn't and less. It might help

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<v Speaker 1>mentally to guess about how long you think this line

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<v Speaker 1>is going to be, and then you can make a

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<v Speaker 1>rational choice about what to do with that time. So

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<v Speaker 1>right now, if you knew you had an hour that

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<v Speaker 1>you needed to fill, what would you do with it?

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<v Speaker 1>If you had access to your phone, how would you

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<v Speaker 1>choose to spend that hour? Think this through ahead of

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<v Speaker 1>time and choose to do those things, and then lines

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<v Speaker 1>can be mildly less annoying because most lines don't take

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<v Speaker 1>too much longer than an hour I mean at least

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<v Speaker 1>I hope. And by the way, if you are in

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<v Speaker 1>a situation where you are the one managing a queue,

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<v Speaker 1>especially if you manage them frequently, please think it through

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<v Speaker 1>so you can manage it as well as you can.

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<v Speaker 1>Time is precious and having a long and needlessly slow

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<v Speaker 1>moving line it's not respectful to your customers or guests.

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<v Speaker 1>Try waiting in the line yourself to see what goes wrong.

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<v Speaker 1>It will go a long way toward easing the problem.

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<v Speaker 1>In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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<v Speaker 1>here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod

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<v Speaker 1>that's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>podcast at i heeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,

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<v Speaker 1>I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is

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<v Speaker 1>a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from

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<v Speaker 1>I heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Yeah,