SLC-S29/W3-“Thinking and Ideas!| Seeing Problems Differently!”
Waiting line in a public setting (illustrative)
Source: Unsplash (Photo by Mufid Majnun)
Hello steemians,
I am truly glad to join SLC-S29/W3 “Thinking and Ideas!| Seeing Problems Differently!” hosted by @ninapenda, because this particular week speaks to something I keep noticing in everyday life, which is that many people can clearly see a problem and can even describe it with anger or jokes, but only a few people slow down enough to examine what the problem is really doing to the community psychologically, economically, and culturally, and how the way we frame the problem often becomes the reason we keep repeating the same weak solutions that never change anything.
1) One everyday problem I identify in my community/country, and some steps to solve it
The everyday problem I choose is the chronic, exhausting, and almost “normalized” long waiting lines and slow service delivery in public offices and essential service centers places like local government offices, certain public hospitals, some administrative registration points, and even some high-demand service counters where citizens waste hours for tasks that should be straightforward, and where the experience is not merely inconvenient but also emotionally draining, because it silently teaches people that their time has no value and that patience is not a virtue but a punishment.
To solve it, I would not begin with expensive technology or big speeches, because the real starting point is making time visible and making the process predictable, and I would follow these practical steps:
Step A: Make the “time cost” measurable and publicly visible
Instead of operating in a fog where nobody knows how long things should take, each service point should display simple daily metrics like average processing time per request type, number of active staff on duty, and the current queue progress because when time is measured and shown publicly, the service becomes a real process rather than a mysterious event that people must endure without understanding.
Step B: Introduce a transparent queue system that removes confusion
A basic ticketing approach (even paper-based) should be used, with a clear screen or board showing “Now serving number X,” because when people can see that the system is fair, the tension naturally drops, the conflicts reduce, and the constant suspicion that “someone is being pushed forward secretly” loses power, which is important because a queue is not only a line, it is a social contract.
Step C: Separate services into simple lanes (Drop-off vs. Pick-up)
Many offices mix people who are submitting complex documents with people who are simply collecting something that is already ready, and this creates human traffic jams, so separating these into two lanes or two counters is a low-cost structural fix that improves flow immediately, because you stop forcing quick tasks to drown inside slow tasks.
Step D: Use “light appointments” via phone/WhatsApp, not complex platforms
Even without a full national digital system, a simple appointment method can be created through a verified phone line or WhatsApp business account, where citizens get assigned basic time windows and receive confirmation, because the goal is not digital perfection but crowd reduction, and reducing crowd pressure is the fastest way to reduce chaos.
2) Why do I think this problem still exists despite many people noticing it?
I believe this problem still exists because it survives on a dangerous mixture of habit, low accountability, and hidden incentives, since when people complain but still accept the system as “normal,” the system learns that it can continue unchanged, and when a system is not measured, it becomes impossible to assign responsibility fairly, which means poor performance has no clear consequences, and improvement has no clear rewards, so the entire environment becomes a loop where everyone is tired but nobody feels empowered to redesign the structure.
Also, in many contexts, confusion unintentionally creates “small power spaces,” where some people can bypass the queue through connections, pressure, or unofficial arrangements, and once a structure allows this kind of advantage, the structure becomes resistant to transparency, because transparency is not only a technical upgrade, it is a political and cultural change.
3) In my opinion, what is the most misunderstood part of this problem?
The most misunderstood part of this problem is that people think it is mainly about speed, while in reality it is deeply about dignity and trust, because when citizens repeatedly spend half a day or a full day waiting for simple services, they lose money, they miss work, they experience stress that spills into family life, and they slowly internalize the idea that the public system is not designed to serve them but to test their endurance, and once that belief becomes common, it spreads into a broader social attitude where rules are seen as obstacles rather than shared agreements.
In other words, the queue is not just a line of people; it is a daily lesson in how power is distributed, how fairness is practiced, and how society decides whether ordinary individuals matter.
4) If I could change one mindset related to this issue, what would it be?
If I could change one mindset, I would change the belief that “waiting is normal, and citizens must simply endure it”, because this belief is the hidden fuel that keeps the problem alive, and I would replace it with a stronger and healthier mindset: “citizens’ time is a public resource, and wasting it is a form of social and economic damage”, because once time is treated as valuable, it becomes morally unacceptable to maintain a system where people lose days every month just to access basic services, and it becomes logical to redesign processes the same way we redesign roads to prevent traffic jams.
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| Paperwork and procedures (illustrative) Source: Unsplash (Photo by Scott Graham) | Waiting pressure in daily life (illustrative) Source: Unsplash (Photo by Mufid Majnun) |
Conclusion
When I force myself to “see the problem differently,” I stop viewing slow public service as a simple operational weakness and start viewing it as a silent machine that produces frustration, distrust, and inequality every single day, because the people who can afford to “escape” the queue through flexibility, money, or connections will always suffer less than the people whose time is tightly tied to daily survival, and that is why solving the queue is not just about making offices faster, but about making society feel fair again in small but powerful ways.
I will promote this entry on my socials (X) as required, and I invite others to participate with their own unique perspectives and solutions.
I invite @eglis, @bossj23, and @sohanurrahman to participate and share your entry, because if you were truly in charge, the hardest part would not be dreaming, but choosing the first unpopular decision that still protects the future.
Best Regards,
@kouba01
You know, I'm calling from Germany – and we are considered an extremely punctual, systematic and efficient bunch ;-)) We don't just have ticket systems with queue numbers and remaining time displays, progress notifications and status signals at MacDonalds, but also in public administration, citizen service centres, school offices, doctors' surgeries and even at some meat counters in supermarkets... And yes, of course it has advantages: you know from the number you've drawn that you still have two hours to run other errands, etc. Well, if it works. Unfortunately, experience teaches us that, at least in our case, it was a failure. The digitalisation of all these processes will now be just as bad; service quality is getting worse and worse and general frustration is growing infinitely. I hope you tackle the problem and do it right from the start!
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Certainly, some everyday situations cause frustration. I, personally, prefer to be part of the solution, not the problem. Best of luck, my friend.
Hi @kouba01, welcome to thinking and ideas week 3
I have witnessed this overtime in public and private offices. It is seen as a normal thing, mostly in supermarkets, you see a cashier accepting a customer's goods and abandoning those on queue as though they never exist.
If only people could join hands to create permanent solutions to this problem.