The family and I were at an ice cream store at Myrtle Beach. It was night time at the mall, and the whole place was packed.

We were in line quite a while. As the line moved (it moved fairly quickly, but was long), I noticed that the line stayed almost EXACTLY the same length. The probability of line length remaining constant for that long is basically zero...unless something else is going on.

There was another ice cream store, about 1/4 mile walk around the lake. It was much less crowded. People came in, looked at the line, looked at the other store....and either walked around the lake or not, depending on the length of the line.

I watched for 20 minutes. The length of the line did not vary by more than 3 feet (about two person body-widths) that whole time. Yet at least 50 people came in, and made an independent marginal decision.

No guidance, no sign that said "Maximum line length: 50 feet" or "IF the line is longer than THIS, you are better off walking around the lake."

When you can look at around you, and see the beauty of spontaneous order, the whole world is magical. And, you don't mind standing in line, because it gives you something to do.

Of course, all this may explain why my wife has a "standing rule" (that's a waiting in line pun): I don't get to point these things out to her. She is not all that interested in my epiphanies, for some reason.

Thank goodness for blogs.