Queue-jumping

Image courtesy: Pixabay

The post A Page from the Past by SG reminded me of an incident at a small neighbourhood store near my home. But before that, let me give you some context.

In India, while in big department stores customers queue up while checking out, in smaller shops, where customers ask an employee to get them what they want, there is no queue system.

The pandemic brought in some change, and customers queued up keeping some distance between one another. But then if there are just two or three people, they stand one beside the other, trying to get the attention of the storekeeper and be done with the shopping as soon as possible.   

So, when a new customer comes, the shopkeeper would ask him what he wants, even while the other customers are being attended to. Thus, some people, who have many items to be bought, end up being overtaken by customers who have just one or two articles to be purchased.

ONE VIEW

If you are wondering why the shopkeeper is allowing some people to jump the queue, he has a reason: why should someone who has just one item to be purchased be forced to wait until everyone who came before him (who probably might have many items in the purchase list) finished their shopping? 

Also, the shopkeeper risks losing such customers, who have just a single item to be bought; they might just move to another shop.

THE OTHER VIEW

How much ever logical that sounds, I remember my father, who was a stickler for discipline, hating this system. Even if he had just one item to be purchased, he would refuse to be attended to before people who came before him were. 

I have seen shopkeepers, finding that very odd. But then, that's how my father was, and because of this what he called "an unfair" system, he used to avoid such stores or shop at off-peak hours or go to a bigger department store where there is a queue system.

My father too had a reason, which we would understand if we are the ones who had to wait for a long time to go through our shopping because we were overtaken by a few others who came later. 

A bit of that trait has rubbed off on me as well. I get irritated when others jump the queue, or they are allowed to jump the queue. And, I feel guilty when I am allowed to jump the queue.

MULTITASKING AT ITS BEST

Recently, at home, we ran out of tea leaves. So, on my way back from the morning walk, I was at one of those smaller neighbourhood shops.

The shopkeeper, as usual, asked me what I wanted. But there was one other person already making some purchase. So, I told the shopkeeper to finish whatever he was doing. 

But then, he told me that the customer had four or five items and it would take some time. I said it's okay. Then the shopkeeper asked me again what I wanted. 

It didn't make sense anymore not to tell him what I wanted, or I should have left the shop. So I told him I needed a packet of tea leaves. And even while he was getting something for the other gentleman, he got me my packet. Multitasking at its best.

Though I felt bad about this queue-jumping, I sort of consoled myself that the person ahead of me didn't suffer any delay, since the shopkeeper was quite efficient, serving us both simultaneously.

Novak stops Rafa

Courtesy: Twitter/Roland Garros

I am yet to recover from the impact of last night's exhilarating, stratospheric level of tennis that two champions brought on to Court Philippe Chatrier.

To say that there has never been a match like this would not be quite accurate. But for sure there has never been one like this in the recent past.

The scoreline 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 doesn't say it all: the way world number one Novak Djokovic ended the reign of world number 3 and King of Clay Rafael Nadal.

What set this match apart were not just the shots that were played (every match has plenty of them) but more importantly the way they were all taken by each of the two players who covered the length and breadth of court in an exquisite display of athleticism, stamina and mental endurance. That's something that we don't find very often.

There were drop shots that sailed over tantalisingly close to the net, which drew in the opponent who took them, lobbed the ball back, but only to see the ball being brought back to play!

Novak, who had nothing much to lose here, was cool. 

Rafa on the other hand -- who has since 2005 played (till this one) 107 matches on this court and lost only two -- seemed to be weighed down by the burden of his past successes.

Nadal played some brilliant forehand down the line winners. But they weren't enough.

Rafa made 55 unforced errors and 8 double faults in comparison to 37 and 3 by Novak.

Rafa said this at the post-match press conference: “These kinds of mistakes can happen. But if you want to win, you can’t make these mistakes.”

But that is not to take away the credit Novak richly deserves. If there was one person who could get the better of Rafa it was only Novak, and he raised his game to a level that made it possible.

And Novak said after the match, "It was one of these matches you can remember forever. It was one of the top three matches in my life."

It's impossible to condense a match that lasted 4 hours 11 minutes into 6 minutes 31 seconds. That's what this highlights video is. Watch it. Better than nothing.

Just in case you would like to read the match report: on tennis.com and on BBC

O, I forgot the final of the French Open is yet to be played. That's tomorrow. Djokovic will take on Tsitisipas. 

And today evening is the women's final: two unlikely contenders: Barbora Krejcikova vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Also forgotten yesterday were: 

one, the other semifinal in which Tsitsipas beat Zverev; 

two, Euro 2020 kickoff, the biggest sporting event after pandemic changed our lives; 

three, the second day's play of 2nd Test between England and New Zealand at Edgbaston; and

four, the second day's play of 1st Test between West Indies and South Africa at Gros Islet, WI.

Some welcome pleasant distraction in these times!

Naomi Osaka's exit and mental health

This is a long post. If you are familiar with the issue of top-ranking tennis star Naomi Osaka pulling out of the French Open this week citing mental health issues, you may skip the first part and scroll down.

Source: Yahoo Sport

Naomi Osaka is a 23-year-old Japanese tennis player. Her first big win came when she was 16 -- when she beat Samantha Stosur, a former US Open champion, in the Stanford Classic in 2014. 

She burst into the limelight less than three years ago, with a sensational victory over Serena Williams in the 2018 US Open. (I blogged about that match that became controversial for other reasons.)

Ever since that she has been doing extremely well in the game and is now among the top-ranked players in the world.

On May 27, in the runup to the ongoing French Open, she said she would not be taking questions from the media after her matches. 

That's one of the contractual obligations players sign into.

❤️ pic.twitter.com/EegFSKnoie

— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) May 26, 2021

Her reason: Many of the reporters are insensitive. When a player has a lost a match they keep asking questions about that match which is akin to being kicked when one has fallen down. 

In a nutshell, she wasn't in a frame of mind to talk to the media.

Her decision was seen more like a refusal to play by the rules and a move to impose her personal views on the system.

On the opening day of the French Open on Sunday, May 30, Osaka got off to a winning start defeating unseeded Patricia Maria Tig of Romania, who has WTA singles ranking of 56, in straight sets: 6-4, 7-6.

But, Osaka boycotted the obligatory post-match media conference. She was fined $15,000 and was threatened with expulsion from the tournament and other Grand Slam matches if she continued to boycott the media interactions.

pic.twitter.com/LN2ANnoAYD

— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) May 31, 2021

The very next day, she made the disclosure -- which stunned the tennis world -- that she was pulling out the French Open. She prefaced it with references to how she has been suffering from depression for the last three years.

WHAT WE KNOW

Naomi Osaka is known to be introverted, and nervous about facing crowds. 

During the 2018 US Open, which she won when she was just 20, she was loudly booed by the crowd, forcing her to tears.

That year she spoke about depression. "I am feeling depressed. I don't know why."

The next year, she said the media's focus on her and their questions were her biggest problems.

Every highly performing player -- who willy-nilly gets a celebrity status -- is under intense media glare. That's not easy to handle. 

The pressure to perform and win every match, especially when one is at the pinnacle, can be excruciating.

Players, especially as they climb up the ladder, have a battery of advisors and counsellors to guide and help them.

Big tennis organisations have their own facilities to address players mental issues.

It's the job of the media to ask questions, even if uncomfortable. One can request them to be sensitive and phrase them more appropriately. But it wouldn't be right to tell them not to ask questions.

Having said that, it's true media can be very insensitive. We have seen so many examples of how celebrities have been tormented by paparazzi.   

WHAT WE DON'T KNOW

Though Osaka has spoken about her mental pressures, it's not known if she had officially communicated it to the organisers. 

It's also not known if tennis organisations had taken note of her public statements and reached out to her with assistance.

Also, one doesn't know if the specific issue of "questioning by media" has been raised with the media themselves and organisations and discussed. 

WHEN IS FEELING LOW ACTUALLY DEPRESSION

One doesn't know. That's the whole problem.

There is no point in saying, why Osaka didn't talk about it earlier? We didn't know. That's true. But that's not her fault.

I don't think there is any person who hasn't felt low, down in the dumps, who has struggled to get up and get on with one's life ... 

When is that really a problem?

I have read articles, books and spoken to people who handle mental health issues. This is what I have understood.

Depression is an emotional issue. It's not a physical issue. Others can't see it. Others can't feel it.

The feeling of depression -- which is very common -- normally doesn't last too long. We are able to distract ourselves soon and carry on with our normal routine.

A rule of thumb is that if something unusual is so persistent as to disrupt the normal routine consistently, then it's an issue that needs attention.

That rule applies to the feeling of not being emotionally or mentally well. We don't really know, probably not even Osaka, when the issue has begun to affect her in a detrimental manner. 

OSAKA NEEDS SUPPORT

A mental scar is not like a physical scar. Unfortunately.

Players, when physically injured, pull out of matches. Just yesterday another top-ranking player Australia's Ashley Barti pulled out of the tournament because of a physical injury.

So in the same vein, if they aren't mentally well, or depressed, is it okay for them to pull out of matches or not fulfil contractual obligations?

Are sports tournaments more about matches or about talking to the media?

Is the ability to handle the media also a part of the celebrity package?

Surely there are issues, and something seems to be broken.

It's quite possible that so many players have felt like Osaka has, but they, for whatever reasons, never took a tough stand like she did. 

It's unfortunate that her feelings couldn't be addressed earlier in a more conciliatory manner.

WAITING FOR OSAKA TO BE BACK

It's never too late. She has expressed willingness to talk over the issues and sort things out.

Not just tennis, but other sports federations too must look at these contractual obligations and see if they are all fair to players, especially if there are aspects that are tied to mental health.

What matters most is on-court performance.

Noami Osaka is a gifted player. 

Tennis needs her. 

I hope she will be back on the courts soon. 

On the green lawns of Wimbledon.

Here's wishing her well.