Hacer cola

It doesn't mean "to make Coke."

hacer cola = to wait in line; to queue up (for the Brits)

One thing that I've noticed in my wanderings around Córdoba is the lines of people. They stretch out the doors and along the street. You would think that they were waiting for something extremely important, like a visa or some sort of grand prize, but you'd be wrong. They wait for the most mundane things: banks (and ATMS), cell phone customer service, and buses. I'll let making ridiculously long lines for buses slide; that's kind of a necessity and it is time-sensitive.  What I don't understand, though, is that these lines are not around all day. If you go to any of these places in the evening, it's completely empty. Why do people all decide to go to the ATM at the same time? The siesta is around 3 hours long, but most people are free other times in the day, and the weekend is always free. However, I was walking around the mall today and there was hardly anyone there. Saturday is actually a light day here, as far as I've seen. Am I being US-centric? Yeah, probably, but I just hate waiting in lines if I don't have to. Wouldn't it save more time in the long run to deviate from your normal schedule just a few minutes?

Maybe I just need more time to acclimate to la vida argentina, but for now I think I'll avoid superfluous lines when necessary.