When I commute into the city, I take the train from the local station. As you descend the steps to the platform the station masters building is directly in front and the ticket window is the first thing you see. Beside the ticket window is a ticket machine which is more often than not, out of change. So many times now, have come down on to the platform walked right passed the queue of people at the ticket window and machine, walked around the corner just a little bit and gone right up to the other ticket window that no-one knows is there. Even though there is a queue for the main ticket window and a queue for the machine, just around the corner not more than 12 paces away the other ticket guy sits reading the newspaper. Initially I didn’t know about this ticket window but one day I noticed someone else purposefully disappear around the corner and reappear a few moments later with a ticket in hand.
So basically at my train station there is a ticket window for the masses of stupid people and there is another ticket window for smart people. The reward for being smarter/more aware than most other people is not having the aggravation of waiting in a queue. In the rare time I see other smart people at the smart people ticket window I feel a sense of camaraderie…I want to reach out and high five the strangers I meet there because we share an open secret which most people don’t know. I don’t actually do high fives with strangers, however, because that kind of thing can get you arrested.
But it occurs to me that this is a metaphor for life. You can either queue at the stupid people window or you can just go directly to the smart people window. So which window are you using? How many shortcuts, improvements or opportunities are you missing because you haven’t noticed the other window just off to the side there? Did you just join the back of the queue because you assumed that the queue is the only place to buy your train tickets?