Sunday's Best Of

From December 24th, 2007

A couple months back, I was in line to pick up a package. It was a relatively small room with a relatively large line, so the line had to snake and weave around the room. Aren't those lines fun? You're actually 5 feet from the counter, yet somehow there are 20 other people in line.

Well a lady walks in, and just stands right at the counter. Well of course, people immediately got into a huff and told her to stand at the end of the line. She said she knew there was a lineup and she was in it, but she was choosing to stand where she was. Apparently the concept of LINE-UP was lost on her. It wasn't a case of pick a number and when the number is called you're up front. She just decided to make up her own rules about a lineup.

Another story: I was in a store waiting to get my passport photo done. The gentleman behind the counter told me to hang on as they were just finishing with someone else, which I could plainly see in front of me.

A minute later, they wrapped up and I was about to sit on the chair when literally out of the, a lady makes a beeline into the store and plops down on the chair with a huff. I look at her and the gentleman with a smile and said I believed I was next. The gentleman said: "Well, she was actually in here a half hour ago."

I was a bit confused by this. She wasn't even in the store moments ago. Now suddenly she's in front of the line. Apparently, you can be in line without having to even be there. I pointed this out to both of them by making this point: "Well, I was in here the other day. Does that make me go before her?" They both looked at me like I had said something horribly unreasonable, to which I pointed out, "So why does she get to go ahead even though she wasn't even in line?" They both looked confused. Do I sound angry?

Good. I'm going to start a new business: Lineup etiquette. I'd love to hear your stories...