Post-traumatic waiting syndrome

Post-Traumatic waiting syndrome is a disease most commonly found among foreigners, who have spent a large amount of time in a Latin American country. While Chile has experienced some economic growth in recent years it has still failed to administer adequate doses of vaccinations to unsuspecting foreigners before they are forced to confront areas, from which the virus can be contracted. However, Chileans have taken the initiative to invent slang phrases like “hacienda cola”, which is similar to the British word “queuing”, to describe their national pastime.

(The following pictures are some lines in Chile. In Chilean Spanish there are two words for buses. “Micros” are city buses and “buses” which travel longer distances between different cities. I took these pictures in Santiago’s Bus Station for inter-city travel. To be fair, the private bus companies that have routes between different cities, in particular Tur-Bus which is the only company my Chilean girlfriend will travel with, are usually one of the most organized things about Chile, they actually leave on time. However, today that was not the case.)

*** This is not the end of the article

Seriously though, if you are going to be in Chile keep a book with you and whip it out (the book that is) every time you end up waiting. It’s amazing how much reading you’ll get done. Plus the book will keep you from thinking about why there is such a long line in the first place and that is something you don’t want to think about.

Why don’t you want to think about that? Because chances are it has something to do with a system that works about as well as a car with one wheel. For example: not letting students use their flash drives in the school’s computer but instead having a weird “student help window”. Instead of just connecting your memory stick to the computer you have to go to and try to explain to someone else what exactly it is you would like to copy to your account, which is of course only accessible from the schools computer labs. Many people working at this window are very nice. However, if you haven’t already guessed, the “student help window” is about as helpful as the Patriot Act is patriotic.

The truth is that waiting here isn’t as bad as many places, Puerto Rico is one place that comes to mind that's worse. Just for comparison’s sake In PR it took me months to get a saving account at Banco Popular and a whole day (8 hours) to get a key to my dorm room. For those who weren’t aware; Puerto Rico is part of the US so getting a saving account should have been as easy as the 5 minutes tops it is in the rest of the states. Robbie, A good Puerto Rican friend of mine, recently informed me of two things about Banco Popular

1.) Its owners are member of Opus Dei’s extremist wing.

2.) It now has a 100% monopoly on banks in Puerto Rico

My conclusion: wow is that a scary combination.

While waiting in Chile is not as bad as Puerto Rico there are still some big problems. In the case of businesses this usually has to do with the fact that owners don’t trust their employees. Any time you pay in a small business, someone usually has to go find the boss. If you’re in a supermarket the cashier will need the manager’s approval to do anything of the following things.

1.) Accept a credit card from someone who doesn’t have a Chilean ID. They need to enter the RUN which is frequently called a “RUT” in everyday speech. This number is a mandatory Chilean ID number which is used similarly to a Social Security number in the US.

2.) Return an item. Even if the person just bought said item five minutes ago, and then decided they didn’t want it. This actually happens here a lot. The truth is that, here, long lines are seen as part of the daily landscape. So a lot of people never think about holding everyone else up behind them. If a line in a supermarket has stopped moving, the cashiers won’t even tell you to switch lines even if they know you will have to wait 15 minutes before the line starts to move again.

3.) Accept a check

Most people here are used to waiting and the best thing to do is adapt the “when in Rome” philosophy. I have had to stand in a lot of pointless lines where I go to school. While in line I have tried to start up conversations about what we can do so we don’t waste so much time standing in line but it seems like that’s a real “gringo” thing to do because most of them just say “yeah, you have to wait in line a lot here”, or something to that effect. I always find it kind of weird that even people who know I have been here for two years will tell me things like “yeah, you have to wait in line a lot here”, as if I just got off the plane. I think this is due to the fact that, for some reason, I think a lot of Chileans have trouble visualizing gringos as anything other than tourists. Unfortunately, I can’t help thinking about ways to change things so that everyone doesn’t wait in line so much. I always want to improve upon existing systems. Glenn, my step-dad, lovingly calls me an “efficiency freak.”

On of my friends works in a US ski resort, has a boyfriend from the US and she tends to be influenced by American mentalities more than most Chileans are. She once told me “it’s amazing how much time gets wasted here. Sometimes, at the end of the day, you feel like you have been running around like a chicken with your head cut off but then when you sit down you realize that you haven’t accomplished anything” She told me this while we were waiting 30 minutes to get 2 pages photocopied.

While waiting in line can be frustrating it’s important for foreigners in Chile to know that they’re not being discriminated against. Everyone here waits, not just foreigners. If you’re a foreigner the only time you will be discriminated against, in terms of waiting, is if you have to get a Visa. Chileans obviously don’t have to apply for visas. They are obligated to have a national ID but, unlike student visas, they don’t have to get it renewed every year and when they do get it renewed it’s not as long as a process.

(Here is what a Chilean ID looks like)

Keep in mind; I don’t think anyone in any country has ever said “wow applying for that visa was fun”. At least I have never heard anyone say that but who knows? Maybe I should just wait a little more.