Wait please

Yet another hot day in mumbai. the bus is crowded. yeah u have enough place to stand and hold a bar close to u. the situation gets interesting now.

u try different strategies.

strategy 1

u scan around continuously to see who is going to get down and get ready to grab his seat. u r in a state of tension. one guy gets up. and before u can move, another guy closer to that seat jumps in. u again wait for ur turn. same thing ensues. during the process, u keep moving around and everytime u move closer to another seat, u lose the present place of standing to another guy. 1 hr passes. u get down without getting a seat. all exasperated. maybe at times u get a seat. going by my history of bus travel, it never happens. thanks to murphy. and u have added frustration having shifted all over the bus with no success. ofcourse u might still get a seat.that chance is there.

strategy 2

this time u stick to ur place come what may. u patiently wait and pray for the person sitting close to ur position to get down. u r not fickle minded this time. 1 hr passes. still u dont get a seat as usual. too bad. but u r not too frustrated. u were not exactly desperate for a seat. if u got it , u had it. but wait sometimes luck is in ur favour. u do get a seat. and i tell u sweet r the fruits of patience. the remaining part of ur journey will be more sweeter than if u had gotten a seat right at the start. again there is tendency to think that we shd have tried strategy 1 had strategy 2 failed.

Is it all really worth the wait....?


{ on a technical note, for mba grads, this illustration is a classic case of dilemma between spot buys vs forward contracts for ,say, crude oil purchase negotiations}