“Oh man, the queue is soooo long!” I grumbled audibly, my forehead glistening from the scorching son. I had naively assumed that no one else would be interested in the Lego pop-up store at Design Orchard. Judging from the throngs of people from all walks of life, I was wrong. Grossly wrong.

Sensei of course was not deterred. He had brought along a book for good measure. But alas, reading 蚂蚁搬家 to his son took a mere five minutes. Before long, he took out his marking and was furiously marking the fourth graders’ Stellar worksheets.

At times, I asked my son, “Do you want to give up?” He replied in the negative. Actually, he had accumulated a trove of queueing experiences under his belt, the most memorable of which included standing in the cold for 90 minutes to have a 1-minute chance to ogle at the pandas in Ueno Zoo. Still, I was impressed by his willingness to wait.

Later on, he didn’t kick up a fuss when we knew that we wouldn’t qualify for a free Lego kit. Took things in his stride. Handling curveballs and disappointments like a pro. I reckoned that if he really grew up to be as unflappable and determined as he is now, I would be basking in pride. No need for him to score straight A’s.

During the wait, I also initiated a conversation with the Japanese mother-and-daughter pair behind me, so I wasn’t exactly waiting in vain. Just gotta go with the flow sometimes.