Column: Time for some patience

I've found myself in the following situation numerous times. A construction crew performing some roadwork has reduced the usually available three lanes of a major street to two. This has caused congestion from long lines of cars patiently wait to get out of the bottleneck. As I'm listening to the radio and wondering when the line of cars in front of me will move, I look to my left and notice an orange sign beside the road that says: "CONSTRUCTION WORK: Lane ends 500 Feet." Off to the left, the lane stretches out like a silver scarf for 500 feet... without a single car on it. There is absolutely nothing on this stretch of the road other than pavement-no cones, signs, construction crews.... And there is absolutely nothing stopping me-or the 47 cars in front of and behind me-from steering left, driving those extra 500 feet and then sneaking back into the line 25 cars ahead.

You know you could do it-no one would stop you. The cars in front of the line have no idea whether you just took a wrong turn or whether you were in a legitimate hurry due to an emergency.

In other words, you would get away with it. Every single time. But despite all this, I have yet to see someone do it.

Now, I'm not advocating this kind of selfish behavior-far from it. Instead, what I want to highlight is that the overall level of discipline present in most American drivers should be a matter of national pride. Although this country hopelessly lags behind the rest of the world when it comes to the overall education levels of its population or the World Cup potential of its soccer team, one thing is certain: Americans appear to be better at waiting in line than anyone else in the world. Though it may seem trivial, this characteristic does more to keep the United States prosperous than first-rate public schools ever could. The process builds patience, discipline, trust and a deep respect for the rule of law.

To offer another example, witness Krzyzewskiville each year. Isn't tent city essentially a bunch of undergraduates waiting in one big line for a very long time? And none of us find it ridiculous that there is a four-page document of clearly outlined rules associated with this process, complete with an elaborate enforcement mechanism of blue-jacketed monitors whose power to "bump" entire tents out of the line is often coveted. After all, the sound of a bullhorn accompanied by the words "tent check" is one of the few things that makes students jump out of their bed at 4 a.m. even faster than the infamous "I meant to tell you.... I have mono."

Inherent in the K-ville experience-aside from freshmen couples who fail to realize that nylon tents aren't much of a sound barrier-is the subconscious teaching that takes place there. It's a textbook case-there is low supply of a good (a space in Cameron) but great demand for it. And there are multiple solutions to this problem.

The University could fling open the doors of Cameron two hours before the game and have a free-for-all for the seats (though I'm sure we'd then drop in the rankings because a number of students would be trampled to death-so you know that's not a viable option). Or there could be a simple lottery to determine who gets into the game.

However, neither of these approaches would be particularly fair. The former rewards brute strength and unscrupulous tackling, while the latter rewards sheer luck. A fairer way to solve the problem then is to let everyone queue, awarding the best seats to those who sacrificed the most by spending weeks living in their tents.