Standing in line

Here's my deep thought for the day. I spend the most time at school, discipline wise, on a skill that is absolutely worthless in real life. We maintain a perfectly uniformly straight line when walking down the hall. Oh, don't forget silent. I am very mean in order to maintain the expected level of "hallway behavior." No running, skipping, touching, or veering out of line. Kids hold a bubble in their mouth (looking like chipmunks), and clasp their hands into a "duck tail" behind them. Required. Expected. No gaps..etc.

So I began to think about how useful this is in real life. Obviously it's used all the time. When I wait in line at a Ranger's game for the restroom, I hold a bubble in my mouth, put my hands in a ducktail, and remain silent. Or when I go to the movies. Nobody talks in line, everybody is single-file, and has a bubble in their mouth. If you talk, you are immediately sent to the end of the line for misbehavior. If you veer out of line, you are sent to the end of the line. Are you laughing yet....what about lining up for communion in a worship service. Accidentally touch the person in front of you, you are denied communion.

Seriously, I began thinking about real applications for this skill and came up with nothing. Who cares if you talk in line? Who cares if you want to skip down the hall? Who cares if you walk in the fourth square out from the wall or not? It will never come up on a job application, ever. So why do I spend countless hours every year honing the important skill of lining up? Hmmmm........yet another thing that I love about my job.