In Rome, we've stood in the odd queue. While shuffling along, your mind has time to start playing tricks. This morning, we joined the start of a 30 minute queue to see St Peter's Basilica... there were some some 5,000 people in the square... at 9:45 am. Why were all these people there? why were we there? There are some reasons that can be quickly discounted. Very few people in the queue appeared to be driven by devout motives... no one had their Rosery Beads out... no one was crawling on their knees in pilgrim style... no chanting.. no self flagilation.. inside the basilica, the only use of a confessional box was by a Chinese guy leaning in so he could hear his mobile phone conversation a little better.
We were queuing under the collonade that circles St Peter's Square... designed by Bernini... and containing some of his best works. Our queuers showed no great desire to look more closely at his works of art. We noticed that inside the basilica cameras showed no bias reflecting the reputation of the artists. Michaelangelo attracted a crowd no bigger than unknown artists. The biggest queues occurred at the chapel showing a dead Pope's embalmed body... and the St Peter's statue where you were allowed to reach up and rub his foot for good luck. One of the less busy corners of the basilica was where a priest was conducting a church service... those attending looked like they had found a good spot to rest their legs for a while.
In the queue, I would have liked to conduct a survey to test the basic understanding of these people who had dedicated a day to see St Peter's... just a few simple questions. 1): How many years ago did Jesus die? 2): Who was St Peter? 3): Who designed and organised the building of the dome atop St Peter's basilica? 4): Who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel? Anyone who couldn't get at least one of these questions right... should be asked to leave the queue. My guess is that the length of the queue could have been halved by applying this rule.
After doing St Peter's, we wandered around to see the Sistine Chapel. We queued... had our goods x-rayed... and finally reached the ticket counter. "€16 each please." "No, there seems to be some misunderstandings... we don't want to buy the Sistine Chapel... we just want to look at it." "Smartass.. €16 each please." " I'll run it past the Chancellor of the Exchequer and let you know." We sat down, pulled out the guide book and looked up the Sistine Chapel... the paintings looked pretty much like the ones we saw on our visit in 1970. In St Peter's (just a few moments earlier) we had seen the diluting effect large crowds have on any enlightenment... discovery... or spiritual development. We felt the Church was trying to take more than its fair share of my wallet... I know... harsh words... it is hard to imagine the church doing such a thing. We put our wallets back in our pockets... bought a couple of bottles of beer (only 34° today)... and made our way back to our apartment.
As for queueing theory (the non-mathematical kind), I reckon us tourists queue where we are told to queue... we are told by our travel agents... our travel books... TV shows... without asking ourselves if we really want to see the site. We march into the site... march out... and then tick the box. You can then go home and say... "We saw St Peter's just like you said we should. Gee it was nice."
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