People cutting in line... what would you do?

It depends on the circumstances whether I'd say anything. I'd probably not say anything if a friend joined someone standing in line. Maybe the friend was parking the car. That's OK. If someone in a store butts in front of me, I'm likely to speak up, "Excuse me, but I'm next."..or.. "What am I, invisible? I was here first." I think some people are just butters or buttheads, or just plain rude, whatever. acute
 
People cutting in line is not on my list of irritants. Someone talking loud on a cellphone gets under my skin, bossy people in general. Someone smoking nearby is the worst. I'm one of those dopes who usually invites someone else to go ahead of me though.
 

CarolfromTX said:
Did this actually inconvenience you in any way? I’d be more upset that the folks in charge left me standing out in the heat. Don’t sweat the small stuff.
Click to expand...
I asked in a similar way but the answer was.
Quote
Sorry, but I'm not re-engaging with you. I gave you a Thumbs Up because you responded as to how you would react and I asked for responses.

Life is to short so your advice of "Don’t sweat the small stuff." makes sense to me.
 
dseag2 said:
So, I had jury duty today. Apparently, due to shutdowns during Covid, cases are very backlogged so I arrived at 7:55am and didn't get into the jury room until 8:45am. When I say the line was 1/2 a mile outside of the courthouse I'm not exaggerating. There were people taking pictures because it was so unbelievable.

I waited patiently in line. There was a woman in front of me. Another woman walked right out of the parking garage and greeted her like an old friend. She stood in line next to her. I heard her asking about her mother, who is in poor health, so I figured she would move to the back of the line after they'd had their conversation. She didn't. Then, ANOTHER woman they knew walked from the parking garage to say hello and they welcomed her into the line. The first woman who cut looked at me and said "I'm sure no one would have a problem with you joining us." I think she expected me to smile graciously but I didn't reply at all. She didn't care.

To me, this behavior is just inconsiderate and selfish. But I decided not to say anything because Jury Duty had already ruined my day so why make it worse? BTW, I was called directly into a District Court, but at 10am the judge came out and told us the defendant had taken a plea deal so we could go home and enjoy the rest of our day.
Click to expand...
They were rude and I would have said something to them.
 
At the supermarket checkout, sometimes there is a deliberate space in the queue, to allow other shoppers to walk across. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to get over to the other side of the store. Sometimes that space is misunderstood, and someone thinks that is the end of the queue and takes their place there, even though a few feet back there could be 6 people waiting.

When that happens, someone always says, "Maam (or Sir), we're all waiting. That's not the end of the line." The person invariably looks embarrassed and apologizes, and takes their place at the end of the queue. Of course, that's just an honest mistake, not a deliberate attempt to cut in. But people should always speak up.
 
I would do nothing, but my 'red headed' wife would confront anyone who cuts in line!

She did this as we waited in line to buy popcorn at a movie a few years ago. Some real big guy switched lines and jumped in front of her. My wife is 5' 1" on a good day, maybe 120lbs. wet! I am 6' 1" at around 240lbs. She immediately said loudly, "Excuse Me" you cannot cut in this line like that! The guy turned around with a real mean expression, and she was in his face telling him to get out of this line. The guy did not notice me behind her, or if he did, he did not realize I was with her. He started to push her, and I stepped up and asked my wife what was wrong. The guy realized I was with her and that we were about to have a problem, he then backed right off. I nicely suggested that he might want to go to another line. He smiled and left the line....

Someday, I know, I going to get into a scrap with someone because of her mouth... I only hope my wife is as tough as she thinks she is...I may need her help!
 
iu
 
It depends i suppose on what the line is for if i would speak up jury duty i would be ok... ..... but it is rude for them to do it once but twice in the OP example.

When working at a store had a lady barge in front of line because she " was in a hurry and had to get her child to school " Her time was just more important i guess....
A man said "you should leave earlier and plan better not just assume you are the only person needing to buy something etc"
he went on to say "her child is late every day and now YOU are teaching him to be rude as well "

She was livid and yelled "just who the hell are you ?"
he said .... "your child's teacher we had his conference last week" ..............she put items down and left .....
but i would like to think she had ALOT of things to think about her behavior and what she was showing her child.
 
Reading the op's post I took this into consideration.

Quote
"When I say the line was 1/2 a mile outside of the courthouse I'm not exaggerating."

I didn't relate to any personal experience where a few people were in line. In that circumstance I would speak up only because sometimes people just aren't aware that a line exists.

I have been in long lines like at Disney where family members joined other family members that were in line. Since rides usually took several people at a time the addition of other family members didn't impact my wait time.

No doubt it was rude of the two women, but did it make any difference in time waiting? It's all in the circumstances at any given time.
 
Em in Ohio said:
Great response, Holly! I'll have to change "queue" to "line" here or many folks will be clueless, but I'm definitely going to add this one to my repertoire!
Click to expand...
That's quite funny, because in Scotland where I was born and raised we always say Line... it took me years to learn to say Queue in England.. instead of line.. :D
 
This happened to me when we lived in a different state years ago. It happened at a grocery store and my husband told her to get in line BEHIND us. She didn't and the cashier even told her she was rude.

Then, I went to Home Depot one day to get paint. I needed it colored and mixed and I stood in line where I belonged. There were several men ahead of me and a couple men in back of me. The guy at the paint counter waited on every man but he wouldn't wait on me. I left without the paint and told my husband he'd have to go get it, which he did with no problems.
 
Really depends on the circumstances. Sometimes is trivial, other times rude and very irritating. As a senior where every day I wake up is like Saturday with the government paying me to do nothing, I am rarely in a hurry any more. A short to medium line in a supermarket is no big deal. California department of motor vehicle lines for license issues are sometimes epic and anyone crowding in is likely to be called out.

Bad is at freeway off ramps where there is a long line of vehicles in a long single line where a few aggressive drivers, especially those with large brutish vehicles expect they can intimidate some driver way near the line front into letting them squeeze in. Worst is when by doing so they also create dangerous slam on their brakes situations for drivers in next lane as the driver creeps along a line of cars looking for spots with enough space where they can suddenly speed the nose of their vehicle into that space. Some drivers habitually ask to be preyed on like that by not keeping the space in front of their car limited while large trucks have a valid excuse. Even if such a driver puts their blinkers on, I will just ignore them totally and that usually results in them becoming extra annoyed in a huff as they bail further ahead to push their game on someone else. The more cheaters are allowed to win, the more they will do so.
 
Last edited:
I am like the invisible person. People cut in front of me all the time in stores. If they just have a few items, I wouldn't say anything, but if their carts look like the Grinch's sleigh, I'd probably speak up. It was Christmas time many years ago and a woman with a packed cart cut me off at the check out line in a department store. I did say something and she said to the check out girl, "Did you hear something?"

Grinch sleigh.jpg
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top