I have been wanting to write more on this blog for a while now, and an FB post by a friend on queue breakers inspired me to put down my thoughts on the subject. I have come to realize that every single time I am in a queue or a waiting list of any sort, a big part of my attentions are engaged not in figuring out if it's my turn next, but whether someone is going to try to cut the queue :P. And yes, I am reciting in my head what I am going to say to them as well. Here are some types of queue breakers that I have come across:
The Clueless One: This type of queue breaker just walks straight in or ahead as though not realizing there's a queue formed. This can be justified in situations where the queue is not too obvious, say folks sitting in a queue of chairs so are not as noticeable. But I have noticed this kind of behaviour even when there's a snaking queue with dozens of folks standing in it! What happens when you confront this person - usually a sheepish "Oh, there's a queue?!" and going and standing in line where they belong.
The Slimey One: Especially in places where the lines are formed quite haphazardly, you would always find one or two folks who try to take advantage of this. Did you just see them beside you? Suddenly they are in front of you! A firm questioning will lead to some face-making and return-accusations (But you weren't standing properly in line, how was I to know?!), but in most cases leads to a grumpy going back to place.
The I-Know-Somebody One: This type of queue breaker knows the doc or whoever it is the queue is waiting to meet. Could be true in some cases, but doesn't justify the behaviour whatsoever. When confronted, some of them do feel embarrassed and go and wait in line, but in some cases their behaviour might be encouraged by the oh-so-great ones on the other side of the door/front desk, and in that case all I can do is grumble.
The Can't-Care-Less One: We have all come across this type - the one who marches to the front of the line and rudely makes their presence felt. They don't care about being polite or standing in queue, and unfortunately there's no point in correcting this one. I have tried questioning as it's too tough for me to just let it go, but not to much effect.
The Ostensibly Polite One: When at the doc/paediatrician for example, sometimes folks come in for an emergency or requesting to go in earlier because they are in a rush for some reason. In most cases, I would prefer to give them the benefit of the doubt, as I don't like to think that folks use kids as excuses for cutting lines. But one incident that happened when D was a few months old really made me change my mind even about this scenario - A mother came up to me and said she would like to see the doc for "five minutes" as she had something urgent to ask her. I relented, and even though I had been waiting for more than half an hour, agreed to let her go in first. She stayed inside for a good 45 minutes, and I could hear from the outside that she had a list of do's and don't prepared to discuss with the doc about some overseas travel :O!!!!! Well, definitely made me more distrustful and taught me to ask more questions about the situation before making allowances.
And then there are times like when recently in a doctor's waiting room, I was about to challenge somebody for walking in before their turn and they came out in under a minute after handing over a wedding invitation :P. Unfortunately, that will not make me any less wary of queue breakers in the future.
I'm sure there are many more you can add to this list, so do tell me about them in the comments :).
The Clueless One: This type of queue breaker just walks straight in or ahead as though not realizing there's a queue formed. This can be justified in situations where the queue is not too obvious, say folks sitting in a queue of chairs so are not as noticeable. But I have noticed this kind of behaviour even when there's a snaking queue with dozens of folks standing in it! What happens when you confront this person - usually a sheepish "Oh, there's a queue?!" and going and standing in line where they belong.
The Slimey One: Especially in places where the lines are formed quite haphazardly, you would always find one or two folks who try to take advantage of this. Did you just see them beside you? Suddenly they are in front of you! A firm questioning will lead to some face-making and return-accusations (But you weren't standing properly in line, how was I to know?!), but in most cases leads to a grumpy going back to place.
The I-Know-Somebody One: This type of queue breaker knows the doc or whoever it is the queue is waiting to meet. Could be true in some cases, but doesn't justify the behaviour whatsoever. When confronted, some of them do feel embarrassed and go and wait in line, but in some cases their behaviour might be encouraged by the oh-so-great ones on the other side of the door/front desk, and in that case all I can do is grumble.
The Can't-Care-Less One: We have all come across this type - the one who marches to the front of the line and rudely makes their presence felt. They don't care about being polite or standing in queue, and unfortunately there's no point in correcting this one. I have tried questioning as it's too tough for me to just let it go, but not to much effect.
The Ostensibly Polite One: When at the doc/paediatrician for example, sometimes folks come in for an emergency or requesting to go in earlier because they are in a rush for some reason. In most cases, I would prefer to give them the benefit of the doubt, as I don't like to think that folks use kids as excuses for cutting lines. But one incident that happened when D was a few months old really made me change my mind even about this scenario - A mother came up to me and said she would like to see the doc for "five minutes" as she had something urgent to ask her. I relented, and even though I had been waiting for more than half an hour, agreed to let her go in first. She stayed inside for a good 45 minutes, and I could hear from the outside that she had a list of do's and don't prepared to discuss with the doc about some overseas travel :O!!!!! Well, definitely made me more distrustful and taught me to ask more questions about the situation before making allowances.
And then there are times like when recently in a doctor's waiting room, I was about to challenge somebody for walking in before their turn and they came out in under a minute after handing over a wedding invitation :P. Unfortunately, that will not make me any less wary of queue breakers in the future.
I'm sure there are many more you can add to this list, so do tell me about them in the comments :).
