Buffets, Boarding, Bank Holidays and Benefits

From time to time, I see articles in the press, or documentaries on TV that seek to expose the misuse of the benefits system. You'll have come across them too - the picture of the family that can't afford to put food on the table, but there's that big, flat-screen TV on the wall. Now, I'm sure there's the same cross-section of the good, the bad and the ugly in every socio-economic group, which means that there are sure to be some 'bad apples' out there. But some recent experiences have helped me see a different dynamic - here they are, the 4 B's.

 Buffets
Been on holiday... got suckered in to the 'welcome deal' of four buffet meals, taken across the week. Interesting observation (other than that it wasn't the greatest deal...) -  how people respond to the risk of missing out…

 When the food level in any one of the many selections began to get low, a little queue formed, trying to make sure that they didn't miss out. I noticed the reflex in myself - even when the food item wasn't something I would normally choose... "Ooh, squid is running out, better leap in and get some" even though I don't like calamari... The fact that the item was replenished by the staff when it got low, made no difference. The risk that it might run out this time induced the panic…

Of course, to avoid this in the first place, many people took preventative action – by piling their plates with more food than they could ever eat. Of course, their doing this reducing the amount left for everyone else, thus inducing them to start queuing for the diminishing item…

Boarding
And it isn't just buffets where this happens. Waiting for the flight home. Big queue of people stood at the gate, even though there are no signs that boarding is about to commence. No staff are wandering around doing whatever – and even more telling, the incoming flight hasn’t landed yet, so there isn’t a plane to board! But their boarding card says the gate closes in five minutes, and they don’t want to miss the flight, so they'd better stand in line… There is no sense in this at all, it isn’t rational, any more than the buffet; the seats are allocated, it isn’t first come-first served, the plane won’t leave without you if you’re not amongst the first thirty passengers on board…

Funnier still, people shuffle forward at the slightest opportunity – somebody moves their bag two inches further forward and the whole queue moves as if somehow that will make the plane appear…

Bank Holiday
The same thing happens whenever there is a holiday weekend and our local 24-hour Asda closes for a day. It's like Armageddon has been announced “We must get another six tins of beans and fourteen loaves of bread, just in case…” Just in case what is never very clear. Queues for the checkouts extend all around the store, people inching forward despite there being nowhere to go (perhaps getting practice for when they next board a plane…) It’s like a plague of locusts descended, shelves stripped bare in seconds.

Benefits
It seems that whenever we perceive that we might go short, miss out or not get what we think is our fair share, we stop behaving rationally. Whether it’s the Calamari in the buffet, the seats on the plane, the bread in the supermarket, or the money in your pocket. Whenever a shortage impinges, or threatens to impinge, the same irrational behaviour arises. Suddenly we feel keenly the lack, even if we wouldn't want it anyway. We feel poor.

It leads to this reflex response; when we feel something is running out, we feel we have to use it before it's gone completely. We couldn't afford the birthday present that we wanted to buy for our child, the present that all the other kids seem to have. The benefit-cheque arrives, and we know we should set it aside for essentials, but there it is, a finite resource that will soon disappear, so we spend it on the present we can't afford. It looks crazy - and those of us who have the resources not to live in that world can so often react disdainfully, mocking the behavior and judging the people, ignoring the same tendency, expressed in different ways, in ourselves.

I could write more on this, but I need to get some cat food before the store runs out. Yes, I know we don't have a cat, but if you saw how many tins the guy across the street just bought, you’d do the same…

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