{"id":9222,"date":"2011-09-08T05:25:13","date_gmt":"2011-09-08T11:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/?p=9222"},"modified":"2014-10-04T06:42:30","modified_gmt":"2014-10-04T11:42:30","slug":"social-security-office-a-lesson-on-queueing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/social-security-office-a-lesson-on-queueing\/9222\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Security Office Wait Times: A Lesson in Queueing"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"a296a24fa2fc69ef5487857f02f111e8\" data-index=\"9\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Single Post readerboard -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:inline-block;width:728px;height:90px\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8207522353004717\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1144967431\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>Due to an overly-busy life, I forgot to apply for a social security card for my youngest daughter, the baby. She&#8217;s 1.5 years and so I thought I probably should just grin and bear it and head over to our local social security office.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PS<\/strong>: Go here if you&#8217;re interested in other articles on <a title=\"waiting line management, resource page\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/queueing-theory\/\">Queueing Theory<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>So, I got the youngest 4 kids ready and we went on an adventure to the social security office. I made sure that I had completed the social security card application at home and brought the necessary proof of identification.<\/p>\n<p>When we got to the social security office, it was crowded. Then, right by the front door was a machine where one could get a ticket. Mine is below:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-9224 size-large\" title=\"social-security-card-office\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/social-security-card-office-e1315415439181-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"social security office\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/social-security-card-office-e1315415439181-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/social-security-card-office-e1315415439181-600x800.jpg 600w, https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/social-security-card-office-e1315415439181-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/social-security-card-office-e1315415439181.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The ticket I got was K223. I asked one of the people waiting what number was just called and she said K211. Not bad. So, I decided to wait.<\/p>\n<h2>Psychology of Queueing<\/h2>\n<p>Based on my ticket, I knew that I was 11 people away from getting served. So, I made sure that I was aware and alert of the numbers being called. This tactic in queueing satisfies one of the principles in the <a title=\"psychology of queueing\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/psychology-of-queueing-disneyland\/372\/\">Psychology of Queueing<\/a>; namely,<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Uncertain Waits Seem Longer than Certain Waits<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For me, while the time was not certain (I didn&#8217;t know how long I&#8217;d have to wait), I did know that I was 11 people away. But then something interesting happened. Instead of hearing &#8220;K212&#8221;, &#8220;K213&#8221;, I heard &#8220;9&#8221;, &#8220;10&#8221;. So, what is going on?<\/p>\n<p>It turns out that &#8220;K&#8221; was for new social security cards and there was a different ticketing and numbering system for other services, such as social security disability and business licenses.<\/p>\n<p>So, while the ticketing system satisfied one principle in the psychology of queueing, it violated another; namely,<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Unfair Waits Feel Longer than Equitable Waits<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To some degree, the two different numbering and ticketing schemes added confusion for me. Eventually, I got used to hearing two different ticketing numbers and after 40 minutes, it was finally our time to be served.<\/p>\n<!--CusAds0-->\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Due to an overly-busy life, I forgot to apply for a social security card for my youngest daughter, the baby. She&#8217;s 1.5 years and so I thought I probably should just grin and bear it and head over to our local social security office. PS: Go here if you&#8217;re interested in other articles on Queueing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12327,"featured_media":9224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[641,643,642,640],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Social Security Office Wait Times: A Lesson in Queueing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Waiting at the social security office for a social security card, social 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