April 20, 2010

Waiting in Line

What is it about waiting in a line that makes adults forget some of the basic rules they learned in preschool and kindergarten?
In the morning when I drop my daughters off at preschool, there are always "cutters." Several of us will be waiting patiently to approach the drop off point and then someone will zoom past us, squeeze in as a car is pulling out, drop off their kid and zoom away. It makes me crazy. More often than not, the violator in this case tends to be a man. I'm going to go out on a stereotypical limb here, but this is what I imagine is going through his head: "Holly Homemaker has nothing important to do this morning except go home and eat bon bons. I have to be somewhere. These moms won't care if I zip in front of them." I'm waiting for a case of road rage to happen in the school parking lot. At the end of the school day there are parents who don't want to wait in line so they'll park in the drive through lane and block anyone who is trying to leave. My "favorite" parents are the ones who don't want to be at the back of the line, so they park in the handicapped spots. There are some parents and grandparents who legitimately need those spots, which are often already taken by those who think they're above the rules.
The grocery store is another prime spot for cutting in line. The store I frequent most rarely has more than two lines open when I'm ready to check out. Once those lines are about 10 deep, the managers will decide "Hey, maybe we need to open another lane." If the manager opens the lane, he or she will go over to the next person in line and push their cart over to the newly open lane. But more often than not, the cashier will simply flip on the light and say "I can help whoever is next" and then it's every shopper for herself. It's like a demolition derby with grocery carts. There are no rules as you compete to be the next person in line. I've gotten to the point where I just stay where I am.
Has common courtesy gone out the window? When did we forget the basic rules?

11 comments:

Marilynne said...

Your complaints are indeed valid. It doesn't give a good lesson to the kids either. You just have to give a good example to your kids and hope they learn from you and not from the people who cut in line.

MaryAnne said...

This reminds me of a visit I made with Lily to urgent care when she was a few weeks old. Mike and the kids came along, so when we got there and there was a long line of cars waiting to park I got out of the car and walked around to get Lily out of her seat, with Mike waiting with the other two kids to park the car. The garage attendant saw we had a young baby and offered us a reserved spot (not one we would normally be allowed to park in). The person immediately in front of us in line started screaming at the parking attendant for letting us park before her. It wasn't even a spot she would have been allowed to use...

Quadmama said...

It's funny to listen to the girls talk about "line leaders" and staying in line. I think they could teach some grown ups a thing or two.

Kim said...

Amen and amen. I have the EXACT same problem with the school drop off. It's actually a relief to read this, because I thought it was just our school and my lonely burden—it's happening other places, too! And I can never understand how people justify to themselves running up from the back of a line to the newly opened checkout; I defer to the person in front of me, since they have been waiting longer and have seniority rights!

Quadmama said...

I should mention, though, there are times when "cutting" is acceptable. When I took Sue Sue to urgent care, she was bumped to the front of the line because she was having breathing problems. Turned out she had croup and was in BAD shape. Another mom there kept giving me dirty looks and I wanted to say "Unless your kid is worse off than mine, cut me some slack!"

reanbean said...

I do think that there is a lack of common courtesy in our society today. There seems to be a me first, my need is greater than yours attitude that just drives me crazy. Everyone is in such a hurry and for what?

Quadmama said...

I just wish people would slow down and THINK about what they're doing. Maybe we would all be a little happier!

Stephanie Barr said...

I don't think there are more rude people than they're used to be. They just aren't ashamed of their behavior any more. Nor am I sure they're most people. People who are rude, however, tend to be more memorable than any number of patient courteous people.

Of course, I am a professional dreamer.

Quadmama said...

You're probably right. It has become more "acceptable" (for lack of a better word) for people to behave in a rude manner.

Becky said...

The school thing would make me a little crazy I think. We have a bus system and when Little Dude goes to preschool there will be only 18 per in his class drop off/pick up shouldn't be much of a problem. The grocery store thing happens all the time. Unless the grocery store person makes direct contact with me and ushers me to the newly open lane, I don't move. I've been known to let someone with one or two items cut me so they don't have to wait for my overflowing cart self to check out.

Quadmama said...

I do that, too.

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