Stuck in a slow line? Watch the humans. It’s the best unscripted show in town.

Standing in line is only unbearable when the one thing to do is notice that you are waiting. A queue is full of people doing entirely ordinary things: a parent negotiating, somebody rehearsing what they will say, two strangers agreeing about how long this is taking. It is more interesting than almost anything you would otherwise pull out to fill the time, and it is free.

Next time you are stuck, leave the phone in your pocket for a few minutes and look. Not at anyone in a way they would notice. The point is to stop treating the delay as dead time you have to survive.