The tyre shop queue: snow reminds Latvia once again that December comes every year

Forecasters say a layer of wet snow may form in places by Saturday morning, and the news sets off one of Latvia's most reliable traditions. Everyone has known for a month that winter tyres become compulsory on 1 December, but only now do thousands of drivers discover, all at once, that their tyres are still in the garage, the cellar or at their mother-in-law's.

The stages of the ritual

• Denial. “It's still warm, December is ages away.” Usually said on Friday evening.
• Revelation. On Saturday morning everything outside is white. On the phone: the number of the tyre shop, last dialled exactly a year ago.
• The queue. The first free slot is “next Tuesday at 7:15”. Or “just turn up and wait, if you're lucky”.
• Archaeology. Four tyres are found in the garage. Two turn out to be summer tyres, the third belongs to another car and the fourth to a bicycle.

What to know while you wait

The deadline really is 1 December, and winter tyres must stay on until 1 March. The sidewall must carry the mountain and snowflake symbol, and the tread must be at least 4mm deep. Seasoned queuers advise checking this at home, so as not to hear after a two-hour wait that the tyres are only fit for summer.

The queue also breeds a special kind of solidarity. Someone shares a thermos, someone mentions that a neighbour changed tyres back in October, and everyone looks at that neighbour with suspicion, as if it were rude.

Next year, on time, definitely

Everyone standing in a tyre shop queue on Saturday will promise themselves to change tyres in October next year. The promise is made every year and is as dependable as the first snow in November. Then the wet snow will melt in a couple of days, the queue will disperse, and with almost three weeks left until 1 December, it will all seem far away again.