In most circumstances Tanzanians refuse to form proper lines (or queues if you want to be British about it) , Americans form lines at just about every opportunity, and in some rare circumstances Tanzanians are induced into making lines, but not without some consternation. This phenomenon is evident in many different areas of Tanzanian life, and it is something I have observed with some interest over the course of my time here, but nowhere was is clearer than trying to board a ferry on Zanzibar back to mainland Tanzania last week. But if you want to hear that story, you’ll have to scroll down past the rest of this post first.
My experience teaching may give this observation on lines some clarity. Whenever Tanzanian students need an official piece of paper signed by teachers they swarm them. That is simply the only way to describe it. To graduate, all Form IV students needed to get their teachers to certify, by signing a piece of paper, that they did not have any school materials in their possession. So, about 190 students needed a signature from almost all the 12 teachers at my school. On the day the students got their signature sheets, a swarm of students followed the teachers wherever they went. Some forced the students to make a line, or to compile all their papers into a stack, but many just sat and signed as students shoved papers in their face. This experience was repeated after exams, when students either wanted a question checked or had worries about the quality of the math that led to their final grade. At first, I refused to look at anything until my students formed a line, so about 6 students formed a line and I began to go over their finals one by one. Then, the swarm began again. So, I stopped, and requested a line. This happened at least 6 times over the course of half an hour.
There is also no such thing as a line for a daladala (public transport). People wait at the stop, and when a bus arrives they run and push to get on. If you are not aggressive enough, you simply will never catch a bus during any time when other people want to catch a bus. In Dar, during training, I actually had to stand next to the door blocking Tanzanians from entering the bus after some of my fellow volunteers proved too reticent to push their own way on the first few buses that passed us. And of course, the same applies when leaving the bus. Unless you want to wait until everyone has gotten out, you need to push your way into the crowd of people rushing off the bus. The ironic thing is that once they get off the bus Tanzanians prove to be – largely – very slow walkers.
Why I am thinking about this all of sudden? My experience last week trying to board a ferry last week made me realize actually how insane this lack of lines can be. A couple of volunteers and I arrived to catch to ferry only to find the waiting area extremely full. We walked towards where the boarding would begin, set down our bags, and began to wait. All of a sudden people began to get up and crowd toward the place where a line would normally begin. In an instant we were left with no room to move or breath. We looked around trying to determine if a ferry had arrived, or what was causing this mass of people to shove past us, and saw the ferry far off in the distance. We had started directly by where a line would have begun, but by the time people stopped moving we were at least 10 feet away from this point, and an area that had been roped off because a worker was doing dangerous looking work with a torch was now full of people with the rope nowhere to be seen. We stood like this for 30 minutes, as a couple of the ferry workers yelled at people some instructions we did not completely understand.
Eventually this horde split into two, and we realized that the earlier ferry had not run due to some mechanical problem. This previous group would board the ferry that was now letting people off, and we would board another ferry about two hours later. Still, my group remained standing, and pushing against the area where boarding happened. The other group looked it might stampede the ferry, and as it began to board people were literally getting pushed through the area where tickets were checked. This ferry was eventually boarded, and realizing that they were definitely not going to get on, some of my group moved away to go have a seat, but a number of them remained standing directly next to the gate. About two hours later the ferry arrived, and the same process began again. People rushed to the gate, and it seemed like people would be trampled. Eventually we pushed, and were pushed, through this mass of people and began to walk down toward the board. There a line to enter the board had formed. Very surprised, we got in this line. Instantly, people began to cut in from the sides, where ferry employees, two per person, began to pull these people out a line. Eventually we got on board. Did I mention that a ferry ticket means that you are guaranteed a seat?
Later that week we took a local ferry (a short five minute ride) to South Dar, and buying a ticket involves the same process. There is one person selling tickets, and about 15 more holding their money into the window trying to buy a ticket. Boarding this ferry – during rush hour – is a similar experience. People push and shove trying to get past the gate, and then discover there is plenty of space on the ferry.
People die in Black Friday store rushes in America, and I have to assume that people get trampled here trying to board transportation, even when there is plenty of space. Why is this? I have no idea at all. Sorry if you were hoping for some brilliant cultural insight. However, I can say that lines would not only make boarding vessels a faster process, but would be far more fair.