Actually, that title contains a misprint. It should read “This week’s column is about mazes”.
They come in all sorts and sizes, have all sorts of reasons for being, and are dealt with in different ways. There are parking lot mazes; Walmart is a maze; Ikea is an intentional one; international airport terminals have to mazes to overcome; scientists create mouse mazes for rearch; corn mazes are for entertainment. Let’s do some maze exploring.
If you’ve taken an international flight out of Toronto’s Pearson, Montreal’s Trudeau or London’s Heathrow, you’ll encounter three major mazes before you get to buckle your seat belt. The first is the parking facilities: multi-level and multi-rows. Be sure to remember your car’s coordinates, D27?… The second maze comes after passing through security: the oh-so-tempting vast duty-free area! Finally: your departure gate: concourse B, gate 13.
Mega-stores such as Walmart have a grid pattern of aisles. Product locations change with each shopping binge: Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, Hallowe’en, back-to-school, summer camping, gardening, snow storm forecast…
Ikea architects must have studied behavioural scientists’ mouse mazes when dreaming up how many tempting cul-de-sacs the customer must encounter between entrance and exit. To find the light bulb you came for, you must pass through the aisles displaying kitchen accessories, bathroom fixtures, baby cribs, storage racks, carpets, bunk beds… Scientists know that every maze must have a motivational reward at the end. In Ikea’s case, it’s cheap hot dogs and pastries. Costco has the same kind of end-of-shopping experience reward.
If you’ve driven through the U.S. Customs check-point at Cornwall-Massena lately, you’ll encounter a chicane of concrete barriers designed to slow down illegals attempting to enter. The reward, for the Florida-bound, mammoth fifth wheel RV driver for successfully negotiating the several sharp turns, is six-months (less a day) away from ice, snow and temperatures that reach the same for Celsius and Fahrenheit.
Finally: corn mazes. Check out this week’s aerial photograph.
