Kindergarten Rules

You are not above the rules. Your time is not more valuable than others. You, like the rest of us, need to follow the kindergarten rules and wait your turn in line.

Most people tend to associate lines with primary school. You walk in a line to recess and lunch and you wait in line to ask the teacher a question or use the pencil sharpener. But lines are everywhere.

There are lines with movie theaters, concerts, shopping check-outs, voting, signing in to meetings, sporting events, and traffic. Lines are everywhere. And everywhere there are lines, there are people who think they are above the line.

I went to a Mongolian Barbecue restaurant last month and this middle-aged woman looked a the length of the line, noticed someone at the front was turned away, and slipped ahead all of us.

I can't count the number of times someone at the grocery store has pulled a heist when a new line opens up and the new cashier asks for the next person in line (me) to move on over but instead the person behind me rushes over and steals it.

Finally, there's traffic. The worst is when there is a lane closure that is clearly labeled for a good couple miles. Even though you are supposed to get over, many people believe they are above the rules and choose to speed ahead and cut someone off to get much further in line.

Line cutters make me so angry that I become inarticulate. I just don't understand how you can believe that you should get special treatment over everyone else. And you know it's not just physical lines that they cut. Line cutters believe that they should be able to bypass the conceptual lines of application processes and, you know, hard work and effort. I think this is my biggest pet peeve because it is so willful and such a conscious decision, not a habit.

We need to crack down. Line waiters are in the majority. We can take the rule-breakers down. Say no, stand firm, and berate with colorful yet appropriate vocabulary.

Happy Thursday!
Elise

PS. Miika I think it might just be challenge time! :) ideas in the comments??