This photo, entitled Tim Hortons Drive Thru, was taken by Ann Baekken, and is used in accordance with their Creative Commons license.
If there's a fair argument that sometimes Canadians are too patient, maybe it comes in the drive-thrus of Tim Horton's on Christmas morning.
This Christmas, I wanted to treat the kids to some Timbits. Now, you might think, "but, James: it's Christmas morning. Isn't everything closed?" But I know for a fact that some Tim Horton's stay open, even through the darkest Christmas night, so I head out. And the neighbourhood Tims (a small building that exists primarily as a drive-thru) seems busy. Cars are lining up down the street. So, I pull in behind them, with my music playing on my stereo, and I settle in towait.
There's something about a queue, and I don't think this is just a Canadian thing. We see a line-up of people or cars patiently waiting for something, and a part of our mind just thinks: I've got to get in on that action! So we join the line-up and wait. The spent cost fallacy comes in pretty quick. Sure, you might be able to get faster service if you go elsewhere, but then all the time you spent in the line here will have been wasted. What a tragedy! Just hang on for another minute. Things will move then and I'll get my prize, surely!
Ten minutes later...
Ten minutes later, I sense that something is wrong. We're not moving, at all. That this line isn't now miles long is largely due to people rage-quitting behind me. I was anticipating delays because, maybe, they staffed this small outlet with a single worker to handle orders, do cash, cook, pour coffee and clean (possibly in defiance of the Geneva Convention), but no. This is different.
It takes me pulling out of the line and driving past the front door of this Tim Horton's outlet to see that, indeed, this place is closed on Christmas day. Now, to be fair: this front door is out of sight of the cars lining up for the drive-thru. Further investigations later shows that other closed Tim Horton's have their holiday hours posted not only on their front door but also beside their drive-thru order stand. This one doesn't. Somebody has forgotten, and a very orderly chaos is reigning.
It actually takes some honking and yelling at the line-up to convince these people that this Tim Horton's they're lining up for is closed and they should be on their way. Those that leave seem grateful.
I then found the one Tim Horton's in the neighbourhood that was open, and it is packed. Cars are stretching down the street, just like the closed Tim Horton's I've left, but I can see workers working inside. Parking my car and getting out gets me into the pedestrian line, which still takes me twenty minutes to get my coffee and Timbits, but oh, well. It's Christmas. Everybody is mostly cheerful.
And as I pass the closed Tim Horton's in my neighbourhood, the cars are still lining up, for nothing.