Queuse are long. Life is short. So why waste time waiting when you can pay someone to do i

t for you？ In Washington D. C. — a city that struggles with more than its share of bureaucratic practices — a small industry is emerging that will queue for you to get everything from a driver's license to a seat in a congressional hearing.

Michael Dbrsey, one of the pioneering"service expediters", began going to traffic courts for other people back in 1988. Today his fees start at $ 20 and can go into the thousands to plead individual cases at the Bureau of Traffic Adjudication (his former employer). Mr. Dorsey knows what a properly written parking ticket looks like, and often gets fines invalidated on its failures in formality. His clients include congressmen and diplomats, as well as firms for which tickets are an occupational hazard, such as taxi operators and television broadcasters.

Service expediters are not universally loved. Non-tax income, like fines and fees, makes up a-bout 7% of local-government revenue in Washington. Mr. Dorsey alone relieves that fund of $ 150, 000 a year. Meanwhile, citizen advocacy groups keep complaining about expediters such as the Congressional Services Company and CVK Group that specialise in saving places for congressional hearings. Committees hearing hot topics such as energy regulation often do not have enough seats. Why should a well-heeled lobbyist who has paid $ 30 an hour to a professional place-holder grab the place？ Critics say this perpetuates a two-layered system;the rich get good government service, but the poor still have to wait.

This seems a little harsh. Service expeditors can hardly be blamed for creating the unfair system they profit from. Anyway, it's not only rich corporate types who benefit from their services. Poor foreigners with little English hire expediters to navigate the ticket-fighting process; so do elderly anddisabled people who want to save time on errands that require long hours standing in line.

And, who knows, the service expediters might even shame the bureaucrats into pulling their socks up. Back in 1999, Washington's mayor, Tony Williams, promised to liberate citizens from the tyranny of the government queue. Things have gotten a bit better, but the 20-minute task of renewing a driver's license can still take days. Hiring an expert to confront the bureaucratic beast on your behalf takes care of that.

What is the new business which emerged in Washington D. C. ？

A．Helping to establish small industries.

B．Making false tickets and driver's licenses.

C．Assisting in organising congressional hearings.

D．Offering to go through official procedures for clients.