Long Lines (LLA)

Long Lines (LLA)

Program Name:

 Long Lines Anonymous (LLA)

 "Serving Serenity Over Standing Still."

12 steps

1. We admitted we were powerless over long lines and idle staff — that our frustration had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to patience.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our reactions over to the care of that Power.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of our expectations toward service environments.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our frustrations.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove our impatience and entitlement.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our urge to micromanage others.

8. Made a list of all persons we had resented for perceived laziness, and became willing to release those resentments.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would cause harm or public disturbance.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we found ourselves growing frustrated, promptly paused and prayed.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with patience, seeking only for serenity and understanding.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others who struggle in lines, and to practice these principles in all checkout situations.

13th Step Safeguard

This fellowship exists to support growth, not to create blame or resentment toward employees or management. Personal healing comes from addressing our own expectations, frustrations, and emotional triggers when faced with inefficiency or poor service. Members are reminded to avoid turning recovery into a platform for personal authority over others.

12 Traditions

1. Our common welfare comes first; personal serenity depends on group patience.

2. For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority — a Power greater than our annoyance.

3. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop controlling others' work habits.

4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or LLA as a whole.

5. Each group has but one primary purpose — to carry its message to those still fuming in line.

6. An LLA group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the LLA name to complaints, lawsuits, or customer rants.

7. Every LLA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside entitlement.

8. LLA should remain forever non-professional but we may employ special workers (like cashiers).

9. LLA ought never be organized, but we may create service boards to keep the flow moving.

10. LLA has no opinion on store management policies; hence, the LLA name ought never be drawn into public controversy.

11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than complaint.

12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

12 Promises

1. We will know a new freedom from urgency.

2. We will not take long lines personally.

3. We will comprehend the word serenity, and we will know peace.

4. No matter how long the line, we will not lose our cool.

5. We will intuitively know how to handle situations that used to baffle us.

6. We will recognize that our time is not more valuable than anyone else’s.

7. We will be able to wait without rehearsing angry conversations in our head.

8. We will find joy in the unexpected pauses of life.

9. We will practice gratitude that we have means to shop at all.

10. Our patience will carry over into every aspect of life.

11. We will feel connected rather than competitive.

12. We will come to realize that the long line is not our enemy, but our teacher.

Slogans

• "Pause at the register, not in your heart."

• "Breathe, don't seethe."

• "Lines are lessons."

• "Every minute is a moment."

• "Be in line, not in rage."

Acronyms

LINE — Let It Naturally Evolve

 WAIT — Why Am I Tense?

 QUEUE — Quiet Understanding Empowers Unruffled Experience

creation of

Build: Long lines in the supermarkets. Why build: because I see employees standing around and talking when there's long lines and they should be working