Originally Posted by PSU Mudder

Here's what kills me about the gatekeepers at EWR checkpoints:

When the elite line gets small or non-exisitent, they wave regular fliers into it. Now, they probably think they are doing some people a favor and keeping the lines shorter and why should I be so uppity about use of that line when its empty, elitist that I obviously am?

Because when the elite line is empty, all of the TSA checkers are available for the regular line, which makes the regular line move FASTER. When they move regular fliers over to the elite line, they are essentially screwing over all the rest of the regular fliers who happened to arrive at the line before them and who would have enjoyed the benefit of a faster moving line. Even though the checkers stand there all day long, they are unable to comprehend the logic of this -- that if the elite line is empty and the regular line is long, the excess capacity at the front will shorten the regular line faster than moving people over.