In London, online task platforms advertise paid work standing in product-launch and event queues for someone else. Airtasker’s London listings include jobs holding places for limited-edition retail sales, early stadium entry, museum admission and television recordings. A stander may be asked to arrive at a fixed time, send photographs of the position and remain until the client comes to take over.
British queues are often discussed as symbols of fairness, yet here waiting time is a purchasable service. The desire for a scarce product or a better position is unchanged. What changes is that the person supplying the patience and the person receiving the result are not the same.