Something from the urban trenches, Chicago-style:
The intern architect documents his day, excited by the opportunity to turn misfortune into fodder:
7:50am The doors open, and the line floods in from several points, and there is disorder as the line becomes a crowd. I feel like I may have a chance at the front of the line, but this lasts for three minutes, the line re-forms exactly as it was outside the office. These are not strangers to this process; they are indoctrinated. The Dept. of Zoning has not asked these people to come early, they have done so out of necessity, and the response from Zoning has not been to change their protocol, but to open their doors and fill the list for the entire day before any other department even opens.
Blithe Spirit 