A restaurant fixed my commission list.

I could see my place, so I put my phone away, went and did something else, and they texted me when my table was ready.

Nobody hovering by the door wondering if they'd been forgotten.

I remember thinking my commission list should work exactly like that.

For a long time, my commissions opened once a month.

On the first Monday of the month I texted everyone on the list a link, and whoever got there first got a spot.

It was fair on paper, but it didn't feel fair.

The link got around, and people who were never on the list took spots.

Plenty of good people got there a little late and found the spots gone, and they'd done nothing wrong.

Twelve to fifteen characters a month is as many as I can paint and still give each one my full attention.

A wait was always coming, so I set out to make it a fair one.

You join once.

From then on you have a real place in line, and it moves every week.

Before your turn, I text you a heads up.

On the day, you get a private link that holds a spot for you, and only you, for 24 hours.

Nobody can race you for it.

The 24 hours is long enough to check your budget and sleep on it.

It's also short enough that the line keeps moving for everyone behind you.

If the timing's wrong, you let it pass.

Your next turn comes on a Monday a few weeks later, and the line holds a few turns for everyone.

You can move it once, and I'd aim for the Monday right after you get paid.

The link has to reach you fast, and email is where things go to wait.

That's the only reason turns go by text.

Every one of them comes from me, and if you reply, I'm the one who answers.

That's the whole system.

Joining takes your phone number and nothing else, and it doesn't order anything.

Anyone already in line has nothing to do.