Why do people hate waiting in line even though they’re not in a hurry?
Because they hate feeling like they have nothing better to do.
R De Braganza, Kilifi, Kenya
• It’s so rude – all those people turning their backs to you.
Margaret Wyeth, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
• Because having to wait means you are a lowly peasant and not one of the chosen ones who travel first class.
Jenny Dodd, Perth, Western Australia
• As soon as they join a queue they get in a row.
David Tucker, Halle, Germany
• Waiting in line goes against our perceptions of making good use of time, causes stress and anxiety and may even lead to queue rage.
Ursula Nixon, Bodalla, NSW, Australia
• Because all congestion is a symptom of poor planning or lack of consideration.
Nathan Ehrmann, Austin, Texas, US
• A response to standing still generated by all the pressures to be up and doing and not being couch potatoes.
Philip Stigger, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
• Probably for the same reason they watch kettles and repeatedly press the call button at lifts.
Malcolm Shuttleworth, Odenthal, Germany
• Because you know that the store is making huge profits by not employing enough cashiers. But if you are sociable and enjoy chatting while you are waiting, it helps to alleviate the frustration.
Joan Dawson, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
• Because they are not old and reasonable.
Art Campbell, Ottawa, Canada
• Macrophobia.
Charlie Bamforth, Davis, California, US
• Because running around in circles is most natural to us.
Sunil Bajaria, London, UK
It’s just too good to be true
At what point does something real become imagined?
They’re called vanishing points, for example where parallel lines appear to converge in long views of landscapes, or more philosophically in long-term views of life.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia
• When it seems too good to be true.
Avril Taylor, Dundas, Ontario, Canada
• At the blink of an eye.
David Turner, Bellevue Heights, South Australia
• When it passes over the event horizon of a black hole.
Paul Broady, Christchurch, New Zealand
• One possible reason that children are often fascinated by dinosaurs is that they help them work out what is real and what is to be feared. Dinosaurs were real but no longer exist and were fierce but are no longer scary.
David Isaacs, Sydney, Australia
• For me, usually at about 4am.
Donna Samoyloff, Toronto, Canada
Let’s salute the real heroes
Is a working-class hero still something to be?
Only if you are also a trillionaire.
Jenefer Warwick James, Paddington, NSW, Australia
• Not in retirement, when you can finally rest on your laurels.
Richard Orlando, Westmount, Quebec, Canada
• Ask that of a firefighter, nurse, police officer, teacher. They are the real heroes today, not the ones that Hollywood or the internet throws at us.
Doreen Forney, Pownal, Vermont, US
Any answers?
What is the most intoxicating sensation one can possess?
R De Braganza, Kilifi, Kenya
What will the next stage of human evolution look like?
John Benseman, Auckland, New Zealand
Send answers and more questions to weekly.nandq@theguardian.com
