金钱不能买什么
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第7章 插队(4)

但是不要把那种录音信息太当回事儿。如今,一些人的电话会比另一些人的电话更快接通,你可以把这叫作电话插队。越来越多的银行、航空公司和信用卡公司都给他们最优质的客户提供特殊的电话号码,或者把他们的电话转接到精英客服中心迅速接听。呼叫中心技术的发展使得公司能够“分辨”来电,并为那些来自富裕区的电话提供更快捷的服务。达美航空公司(Delta Airlines)最近提议给经常搭乘飞机的乘客提供一项额外待遇(尽管存有争议):多花5美元就可以与在美国的客服代理人通话,而不是被转接到一个位于印度的呼叫中心。但是达美公司的这项建议遭到了公众的反对,最后只得放弃。[39]

先接听你最优质(或最有潜力)的客户的电话有什么错吗?这取决于你售卖的物品的性质。他们打电话来是咨询透支费还是咨询阑尾切除术?

当然,市场和排队并不是唯一的分配物品的方法。一些物品是根据产品优劣进行分配的,另一些物品是根据人们的需要进行分配的,还有一些则是根据抽签或运气来进行分配的。大学通常会录取最有天赋和最有潜力的学生,而并不是那些最早提出申请或是为了一个新生名额而付钱最多的学生。医院的急诊室是根据病人病情的紧迫性,而不是根据他们到达的先后时间或他们支付额外费用的意愿来对待病人的。陪审团成员的选择是随机的。如果你被选上,你就不能雇用他人来代替你。

市场取代排队和其他非市场方式来分配物品的趋势,已遍及现代生活的方方面面,以至于我们几乎不会在意到它。需要特别强调的是,我们之前谈到的在机场、游乐场、莎士比亚戏剧节、国会听证会、呼叫中心和诊所、免费高速公路和国家公园等场所的大多数付费插队做法,都是最近发生的事情,而在30年前这几乎是无法想象的。关注排队或排队伦理在上述方面消失的问题似乎有点小题大做,但是我想指出的是,市场或市场伦理侵入的并不只是这些地方。

[1].Christopher Caldwell,“First-Class Privilege,”New York Times Magazine,May 11,2008,pp.9–10.

[2].The United Airlines Premier Line is described at https://store.united.com/traveloptions/control/category?category_id=UM_PMRLINE&navSource=Travel+Options+Main+Menu&linkTitle=UM_PMRLINE;David Millward,“Luton Airport Charges to Jump Security Queue,”Telegraph,March 26,2009,www.london-luton.co.uk/en/prioritylane.

[3].Caldwell,“First-Class Privilege.”

[4].Ramin Setoodeh,“Step Right Up!Amusement-Park Visitors Pay Premium to Avoid Long Lines,”Wall Street Journal,July 12,2004,p.B1;Chris Mohney,“Changing Lines:Paying to Skip the Queues at Theme Parks,”Slate,July 3,2002;Steve Rushin,“The Waiting Game,”Time,September 10,2007,p.88;Harry Wallop,“£350to Queue Jump at a Theme Park,”Telegraph,February 13,2011.Quote is from Mohney,“Changing Lines.”

[5].Setoodeh,“Step Right Up!”;Mohney,“Changing Lines”;www.universalstudioshollywood.com/ticket_front_of_line.html.

[6].www.esbnyc.com/observatory_visitors_tips.asp;https://ticketing.esbnyc.com/Webstore/Content.aspx?Kind=LandingPage.

[7].www.hbo.com/curb-your-enthusiasm/episodes/index.html#1/curb-your-enthusiasm/episodes/4/36-the-car-pool-lane/synopsis.html.

[8].Timothy Egan,“Paying on the Highway to Get Out of First Gear,”New York Times,April 28,2005,p.A1;Larry Copeland,“Solo in the Car-pool Lane?”USA Today,May 9,2005,p.3A;Daniel Machalaba,“Paying for VIP Treatment in a Traffic Jam,”Wall Street Journal,June 21,2007,p.1;Larry Lane,“‘HOT’Lanes Wide Open to Solo Drivers—For a Price,”Seattle Post-Intelligencer,April 3,2008,p.A1;Michael Cabanatuan,“Bay Area’s First Express Lane to Open on I-680,”San Francisco Chronicle,September 13,2010.

[9].Joe Dziemianowicz,“Shakedown in the Park:Putting a Price on Free Shakespeare Tickets Sparks an Ugly Drama,”Daily News,June 9,2010,p.39.

[10].Ibid.;Glenn Blain,“Attorney General Andrew Cuomo Cracks Down on Scalping of Shakespeare in the Park Tickets,”Daily News,June 11,2010;“Still Acting Like Attorney General,Cuomo Goes After Shakespeare Scalpers,”Wall Street Journal,June 11,2010.

[11].Brian Montopoli,“The Queue Crew,”Legal Affairs,January/February 2004;Libby Copeland,“The Line Starts Here,”Washington Post,March 2,2005;Lisa Lerer,“Waiting for Good Dough,”Politico,July 26,2007;Tara Palmeri,“Homeless Stand in for Lobbyists on Capitol Hill,”CNN,http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/07/13/line.standers/.

[12].Sam Hananel,“Lawmaker Wants to Ban Hill Line Standers,”Washington Post,October 17,2007;Mike Mills,“It Pays to Wait:On the Hill,Entrepreneurs Take Profitable Queue from Lobbyists,”Washington Post,May 24,1995;“Hustling Congress,”Washington Post,May 29,1995.Senator McCaskill quoted in Sarah O’Connor,“Packed Agenda Proves Boon for Army Standing in Line,”Financial Times,October 13,2009.