On the arrival of Godot

During test runs of Hong Kong's new Disneyland, according to the New York Times last month, "park goers complained of waits of over two hours for some attractions. One visitor said that in 12 hours at the park, he went on all of four rides.... And the delays sparked cultural complaints in Internet discussion groups, with some Hong Kong residents saying the problems were made worse by pushing and shoving from mainland Chinese visitors unaccustomed to orderly waiting.

"There are, in fact, cultural differences in how people behave while in line, according to social scientists and park designers."

Those in more collective cultures (as in some Asian countries) "compare their situation with those around them. This may make it more likely that they will remain in a line even if it is excessively long.... it is the people behind a person in line, rather than in front, that determines the person's behaviour." If there are oodles behind you, you won't give up because you have such a great head start.

Individualistic cultures -- such as the United States' -- have shorter lines. "They don't necessarily feel better that more people are behind them, but feel bad if too many people are in front of them. Lines in these cultures tend to be more self-limiting."

One stand-in-line-studier says mainland Chinese are "trying to figure out how lines work." Brits are orderly. Italians and French "never saw a line they couldn't be in front of." In the Middle East, no one will tolerate lines, so Disney increased ride capacity such that waiting is at a minimum.

I recently checked out my local amusement park, La Ronde (open weekends through Oct. 23). And I stood in line.

Not for long, generally; it was an overcast, chilly day that kept many away. Until I got to the Dragon, a popular roller coaster (running mostly in the deep dark of a cavernous warehouse). Our group of four waited. Waited. Waited. And then I started looking.

We had a perfect view of a large ugly cement square -- complete with electrical box and sheared wires poking out from the lot's geographical centre; I imagined a ride plucked up and tossed out by a giant claw.

I began to notice that some of the rides were falling apart -- a couple of the teacups were chained away from customers, as were some Disco pods. The Spirale observation tower was installed during Expo 67 and looks it. Some of the glass panes had been replaced by squares of wood. (Management should rename the ride The Opaque Elevator.)

The Bateau Pirate was the only ride officially marked as shut for the day. But in fact, the Formula 1 simulator was padlocked when I walked by. And the bouncy trampoline was closed.

Many of the "lanes" in arcade games were broken -- two of the hammers on a whack-a-gopher that I played had been disappeared.

It's clearly not a property that continent-wide theme park owners Six Flags Inc. want to make pretty. And a few days later came the announcement that La Ronde is for sale.

Lines? I'm all for them. They help me see.