Groupthink

There were three ATM’s in a row on the side of the bank, situated on the side of a busy community shopping center parking lot. There was one line of average folks waiting to use them. I noticed that the ATM in the middle of the three wasn’t being used, although it was clearly open for business. So I took my place in line, fourth from the front and awaited further developments.

One of the ATM users finished his work, put away his wallet and strolled off. The next person in line promptly took his place at the ATM on the right side of the three. The person in line behind him took one step forward and waited for another ATM to become available. The unattended ATM in the middle still sat there, waiting. The new person in the front of the line made no move toward it, nor did the person behind her make any comment about the open and available ATM.

The ATM on the left became then available, and the aforementioned person moved up to it and started to do business. The ATM to the right of them, the one in the middle of the three, was still unattended. The next first person in line made no move toward it.

The person at the left ATM got some quick cash and stepped off. The person in front of me stepped forward and took her place. I stepped forward to the middle ATM, entered my card and started punching buttons. The person at the ATM to my left looked at me curiously, looked at the ATM, then went back to finish what she was doing with a quizzical look on her face.

As I tucked my own wallet away, the person who stood behind me in line said, “Hmm, I thought that ATM was broken 'cause no one else was using it.” He looked at it, looked at me and then stared at the ATM's paneling, including the green "open" tag, even more closely, pondering the many apparently deep mysteries of what he'd just seen and experienced.

I’m just glad no one in front of me in the line wanted to walk in front one of the many cars driving by. It would have been ugly.