Queing to shop is work in Venezuela

Shortages of basic goods and long lines of consumers hoping to buy them have spawned a new profession in crisis-hit Venezuela: waiting in line to buy things for other people. Krisbell Villarroel, a 22-year-old single mother of two small children in Caracas, makes a living by queuing up to buy things she then sells to clients who pay her for the time she spends standing in line. "Every day, I have to get up at two in the morning and call my friends to find out where things are for sale or what is for sale," Villarroel told AFP. "That is how I spend my day. I get out of the first line at 10am and then perhaps go to another to see what they are selling," she explained. "In one store, I might get milk, sugar or coffee, but in another -- flour, rice, diapers or shampoo." More…