# Attempted line jumpers, just fucking stop! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 27, 2012, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-line-jumpers-just-fucking-stop/635983 "2012-09-27T08:22:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-line-jumpers-just-fucking-stop/635983/61 "2012-10-01T21:23:36Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > One of my pet peeves is how service people and regular customers can be so rude and critical to a person who simply wasn’t aware of “the way it’s done,” especially in cases where there is ambiguity. I don’t see any ambiguity here. There was a line of people being processed and someone old enough to know better decided to just walk right up to the person processing tickets, bypassing the line. That person is a self-entitled ASS. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-line-jumpers-just-fucking-stop/635983/62 "2012-10-01T22:52:19Z")
> [@grude](#): > > The post office here does visa applications for some horrible reason, so one person in line can literally hold everything up for thirty minutes. Some clerks have the sense to direct them off to the side to fill out all the forms so they can help others in the interim. Some however seem to get off on the break from work and have the person doing whatever while they and everyone else wait. My local Safeway’s customer service counter does those Western Union money transfers, and at certain times there are tons of people waiting to get money transfers done. Each one takes about five minutes, so if you just got overcharged for something and want your money back, tough shit for you. It seems to me like the Western Union money transfers is a nice service to offer, but it’s kind of getting in the way of getting their business done. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-line-jumpers-just-fucking-stop/635983/63 "2012-10-01T23:11:53Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > I pit people who bypass the long line in the right lane before an exit to the freeway and try to sneak in right before the exit. You have never driven in the Seattle area. Timidest drivers on the planet. When I see the right lane moving at 15 mph a full half mile before I exit, I keep going, knowing that as I near the actual exit, I will pass several drivers who insist on maintaining a 7-8 car length gap between them and the next car. I can safely and casually pull in front of them, still leaving a couple lengths in front and a few lengths behind, with no “zipping” involved. It’s something I’ve never seen before, but it never fails. And there is not a note of hyperbole in that description - they leave 4-5 car lengths between them and the next car while sitting at a red light in a dead stop. I asked one local driver why they did that, as well as driving 15-20 below the limit on interstates, traffic flow be damned. His answer? “what’s your hurry?”:smack: ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-line-jumpers-just-fucking-stop/635983/64 "2012-10-01T23:28:53Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > My local Safeway’s customer service counter does those Western Union money transfers, and at certain times there are tons of people waiting to get money transfers done. Each one takes about five minutes, so if you just got overcharged for something and want your money back, tough shit for you. It seems to me like the Western Union money transfers is a nice service to offer, but it’s kind of getting in the way of getting their business done. Oh, I _hate_ those – there seems to be a large immigrant population around my favorite grocery store, and sometimes there’s a huge line of people waiting to send money home. As you say, it’s a nice service, but it clogs up the CS people for way, way too long. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-line-jumpers-just-fucking-stop/635983/65 "2012-10-02T01:27:38Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > I don’t see any ambiguity here. There was a line of people being processed and someone old enough to know better decided to just walk right up to the person processing tickets, bypassing the line. > > That person is a self-entitled ASS. Sorry, but only **chizzuk** can really say that to any extent. I wasn’t there and I assume you weren’t either. I prefer that service personnel act civil and in good faith first, as long as they were not spoken to or treated offensively. Barring some clarification from **chizzuk** that expands on the couple’s actions, isn’t there a chance that they were simply bumbling along and accidentally jumped the line? I have done so before, and I apologized and went to the end. My point is: take the high road and smooth it over in a way that doesn’t hurt anybody. Once someone has positively shown themselves to be a jerk, all bets are off. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-line-jumpers-just-fucking-stop/635983/66 "2012-10-04T18:22:51Z")
> [@moejoe](#): > > Have you considered having your money out and ready for when it’s your turn? If I’m on a work break and just want to grab a soda and hand over a dollar and the dude in front of me is digging out a dime, well, I guess that’s a different rant. Nope. There’s no counter, so my hands are either digging in the ice chest for a drink or holding items until I can hand them to the proprietor. While she bags them there’s a moment when i can haul out money without needing to be an octopus. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-line-jumpers-just-fucking-stop/635983/67 "2012-10-05T00:53:52Z")
> [@Fair\_Rarity](#): > > I watched a woman come in the store, then stand behind the person at the register, a little off to the left. I was standing behind customer #1, a little to the right. There wasn’t room to stand directly behind her, but it’s not like I was playing hide & seek. When customer #1 left and I put my stuff on the counter, customer #2 gave me evil death stare. It amused me greatly. Like even if she wasn’t sure if I was waiting in line, the thought should have occurred to her. I’m quite sure now that I am invisible, as a similar thing happened to me the other day at the library. The librarian was helping someone at the check-in desk and I set up my pile on the check-out desk, got my card out of my wallet, etc. A man came in and stood behind me, but started doing this hovering dance, like he kept trying to peek around me to see if he could get up to the front. He stood like 2 inches behind me and when the librarian came over to me and started to do my books, he let out a huge sigh. He nearly shoved me out of the way when it was finally his turn. While it might sound like he was impatient in general, it felt directed at me personally, like somehow I personally wronged him by getting there before him. Twice in one week makes me think people just can’t see me somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Spiny\_Norman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Spiny\_Norman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiny_Norman)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-line-jumpers-just-fucking-stop/635983/68 "2012-10-05T17:08:43Z")
On my wonderful LA commute, there’s a stretch of La Cienega (between Stocker and Rodeo, for the locals) that almost looks like a freeway - on/off ramps, 3 lanes in each direction, nice. Regrettably, it is traffic-prone, and at times, traffic back ups to where it passes under a bridge, complete with on-ramps, that carries a little-used street going to a rec area. Contrary to myth, Angelinos deal quite well with traffic. But there are a few utter, utter despicable self-centered myopic asshats who see the off-ramp and think “Cool! I go up the off-ramp, cross the street, go down the on-ramp, I merge again while pretending to just come out of the park, and then I will be, oh, 20 cars ahead. I win! Y’all are suckers!” I will not go into detail about what I would consider a suitable from of discouragement - just point out that here is a little wooded area right by the off-ramp that would be _perfect_ for a heavy weapons position, either something in the .50 cal range or perhaps - outside fire season - a recoilless rifle crew. However, in the real world, I have to content myself by developing a severe case of selective blindness and deafness when said buggers try to merge. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-line-jumpers-just-fucking-stop/635983/69 "2012-10-05T20:04:52Z")
I guess the only “line jumping” I’ve seen here frequently is when an injured or elderly person goes to the front of the line for the bus to get on first, but that’s allowed and accepted, and doesn’t seem to bother anyone, so I don’t know if it even counts. You do find the odd idiot here (Montreal) who tries to jump into the bus line, but I try hard not to let them. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-line-jumpers-just-fucking-stop/635983.md?page=3)