At first it was just a curiosity, the makeshift line of people snaking down through the streets of the neighborhood, the idle men milling about glancing at their watches from time to time. If my car hadn't stalled, I'd probably just driven past not really paying too much attention, but damn, here I was hiking home, my car parked in a neighbor's driveway. I was lucky, it could have broken down on the freeway or even in the city, fortunately my car at least got me within a few blocks of home. Of course, now that I was walking down the length of the long line it grabbed my attention.
Figuring I'd eventually find out what it was all about I tried not to pay attention to the individual men who were waiting. Even though this was my neighborhood, I didn't recognize any of them, and while some were well dressed wearing suits and ties, there were others that I'd certainly be afraid to meet alone in some dark alley somewhere. Simply looking down at the ground I walked down the street passing man after man.
I had gone about a block or so when I heard one of the men call out, "Hey, you there. You're not planning to cut in line are you?"
Realizing he was talking to me I looked toward the line and asked, "What?"
A short man with a scraggly beard stepped toward me and said, "You're walking past us. Are you planning to get up ahead and then cut in line?"
"No, I'm just trying to get home. My car broke down."
Unabashedly scratching his crotch he replied, "Yeah okay, but you sure you're not planning to cut?"
"I don't even know what you are waiting in line for."
A couple of men chuckled and the short man turned to them and shrugged his shoulders. "Some guys don't know what's worth waiting for," he said and then turning back to me he continued, "Okay, just don't cut in line."
Further up the line I heard another man ask, "Is some one cutting in line? We really need to start a list, get numbers or something."
"Don't worry he doesn't even know what we are waiting for," someone else shouted out. I could hear others chuckling at the comment.
I kept on walking, noticing that the line went around a corner and continued up my street toward my house. Strangely the line actually appeared to curve up my driveway and lead to my front door. Quickening my pace I hurried past man after man, hearing an occasional voice call out, "Hey, no cutting." From half a block away I could see that my front door was open and the line of men continued on into my house. I quickly sprinted into my yard and elbowed past the crowd of men at my door.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing? The line starts back there," one man said, pointing back out the door.
