Pet Peeves: People Who Budge In Line

Being in the back of a long line-up and having a so-called "cool" guy budge in front of me is an annoying experience.

It's unfair. It's aggravating.

We all know that we could easily move ahead in a line-up without waiting our turn. Most of us do wait patiently for our turn, relying on the unspoken rule that the person who reaches the line-up first gets served first.

Perhaps not everyone understands these rules or manners.

Come join me in my recent line-up experience.

I am thirsty. I stand in a line-up to purchase a hot tea at the local Tim Hortons restaurant. I crush myself into the male in front of me, so much so that we look like an adjoined body. Why am I standing like this?

I don't want a guy whose pants and shirt are ten sizes too big budging in front of me. No space between customers means there is no room to cut directly in front of me.

I am satisfied that I have done my part in warding off those smooth-talking vultures more commonly known as cut-ins.

Then what do I see ahead of me?

A flock of earnest vultures is what I see. Gawking in a pack of five, the guys move at a rapid pace toward the front of the line. Ahead of me. Don't let them in, don't let them in, I pray. Bleep this; I am unfairly defeated by those rugged beasts. Into the line-up ahead of me they go.

I wonder. Can there still be hope for polite people like me who do not think it is right to let rude people budge in line?

If I let the vultures in, they could smother me with their sharp claws, tearing me slowly apart. And they wouldn't stop at this line-up. They would continue to flock over me everywhere I went.

"There's that lady who let us into the Tim Hortons line-up," they would gawk. "She'll let us in again." Laughs and jeers would follow their comments.

I would never be fully prepared either, as you can never tell when and where those horrid beasts will appear in a line-up.

Why do these beasts insist on budging?

Why aren't they simply pushed or thrown out of the line? Heaven knows they have enough cushioning from their XL pants to guarantee a comfy landing!

Perhaps I will ask these questions to the next person that tries to budge in front of me in a line-up. I wonder how I can incorporate the word "rude" politely into my dialogue. Well, this hub is certainly a great place to start to practice my speech!