It is old-fashioned busy in front of the Dutch Pastry Stall on the Grote Markt. There is a lot of chatting in the tens of meters long queue.
A little boy looks at the long line on the Grote Markt. ,,Dad, we have to start an oil ball stand.” The waiting time is about half an hour. ,,Not too bad? ”, says Henk who wants to cultivate some optimism. ” In any case, they must be tasty at this stall, says Sieta, a former police officer in Groningen. ,,Yes,” says Henk. “Crispy and better than in the supermarket.”
More people state that they don’t think the waiting time is an issue. What is a good oliebol? It’s not a discussion. Not too greasy and dry. Around noon it stops raining. The number of waiting is growing. Not everyone is at the back of the queue. A woman remarks: ,,Am I seeing it right? Do you want to preview? No problem, I’ll make room for you.” A girl throws an empty soda can away. Someone silently picks it up and throws it into a container.
‘You look fresh otherwise’
Sieta actually likes it that way. Chat a little. Still, it’s not going anywhere. “Definitely a big order,” she says. ,,Does not matter. They just wait at home.” A passerby has a tip. “Go to UMCG. It’s your turn. And just as tasty as here. You do have to pay in cash. The ATM is broken there.” Then it starts running again. The oliebollen can almost be smelled. There are now fewer people in front of us than behind us.
On the Grote Markt people take pictures of the queue. A team is working up a sweat in the oliebollen stall. An entrepreneur ignores the queue and orders. He wants to chat with the staff. The employees work hard. “Can you keep up with Marian? No? Otherwise you’re still fresh.”