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Proper etiquette for cutting in line

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Old Jun 9, 2009, 8:10 am
  #16  
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I've only moved up in the line twice. Both times at DEN, where it was Ma and Pa Kettles talking with a TSAer about what should be removed from the bag and their person. While in the black diamond lane (which they change almost daily).

Neither of those time I got grief from TSAers.
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Old Jun 9, 2009, 8:26 am
  #17  
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Never had to do it, but during the summer of hell at LHR, I did see a situation when they made the final call for one of the SYD flights. People in front of me were obviously on the flight and (quite rightly IMHO) made their way to the front. The BAA staff refused to let them in, saying that no call had been made. The SYD pax, in a great display of British etiquette of queuing turned to the people at the front of the queue (who fortunately had also heard the call) and asked if they could push in... they were allowed to, and absolutely nothing the BAA staff could say or do, because the rules of British queue jumping had been fully and politely observed.

I would say the OP's approach is like that of cafeterias in the UK, where if you are going through with a limited number of items, and someone in front of you are doing full meals and being held up, you are 'allowed' to ask if you can jump in front of them - on the proviso that you are not expected to delay them very much or at all....
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Old Jun 9, 2009, 8:40 am
  #18  
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Originally Posted by Jenbel
I would say the OP's approach is like that of cafeterias in the UK, where if you are going through with a limited number of items, and someone in front of you are doing full meals and being held up, you are 'allowed' to ask if you can jump in front of them - on the proviso that you are not expected to delay them very much or at all....
and that is exactly where I picked it up, Jenbel. The Polytechnic lunch lady - a no nonsense bird, expert in the science of throughput. We could do with some of them in the TSA.
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Old Jun 9, 2009, 8:42 am
  #19  
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Originally Posted by SDF_Traveler
Any time someone doesn't have their stuff together prior to the x-ray / WTMD, I'll jump ahead of them as well.

On the same token, I'll let people jump ahead of me if I have extra gear on me and need an extra minute or two arranging stuff prior to the x-ray.

Two way street.

I'll never jump the entire queue though -- just in front of the x-ray if I'm ready and someone is taking a long time.
This is a better description of my approach, especially the last part.
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Old Jun 9, 2009, 8:47 am
  #20  
 
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Several posts seem to assume that the person at the head of a line has more authority to allow someone to cut to the head of the line than do all other people in the line.

What is the rationale for this assumption? Since cutting in at the head of the line has an exactly equal effect on all the members of the line, it would seem that asking the first person in line if you can cut in is no more polite, and makes no more sense, than asking the last person.
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Old Jun 9, 2009, 9:15 am
  #21  
 
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I use the employee line
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Old Jun 9, 2009, 9:21 am
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Ii won't jump que as I find it kind of rude. However, i don't mind letting my CLEAR concierge do it for me! You gotta love some of the nasty looks I get at MCO when I get broken into the line!
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Old Jun 9, 2009, 9:31 am
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by coachrowsey
I use the employee line
Wiseguy

Do you cut in line, though?
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Old Jun 9, 2009, 10:18 am
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Originally Posted by Kohoutek
Wiseguy

Do you cut in line, though?
If I'm at an airport & no employee line I wait my turn.
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Old Jun 9, 2009, 10:56 am
  #25  
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Originally Posted by Cha-cha-cha
Several posts seem to assume that the person at the head of a line has more authority to allow someone to cut to the head of the line than do all other people in the line.

What is the rationale for this assumption? Since cutting in at the head of the line has an exactly equal effect on all the members of the line, it would seem that asking the first person in line if you can cut in is no more polite, and makes no more sense, than asking the last person.
Under British queuing etiquette, you control whether someone can push in in front of you. You are the ultimate arbiter. If you are at the head of the queue, you get to say whether someone can push to the front or not. That's just how queues work over here....
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Old Jun 9, 2009, 11:20 am
  #26  
 
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Originally Posted by Jenbel
Under British queuing etiquette, you control whether someone can push in in front of you. You are the ultimate arbiter. If you are at the head of the queue, you get to say whether someone can push to the front or not. That's just how queues work over here....
Under South American "V"ing* etiquette, you control whether or not someone can push ahead of you be keeping a 1 mm gap between you and the persons in front of and beside you. Occasionally an elbow strike or armbar becomes necessary, or even a rear naked choke if the person is ultimately successful in positioning in front of you.

*note that there are no Queues ... simply a V shaped mass of human bodies funneling through the gate/door/entrance.
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Old Jun 9, 2009, 11:28 am
  #27  
 
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Originally Posted by WalkinBackToTexas
Under South American "V"ing* etiquette, you control whether or not someone can push ahead of you be keeping a 1 mm gap between you and the persons in front of and beside you. Occasionally an elbow strike or armbar becomes necessary, or even a rear naked choke if the person is ultimately successful in positioning in front of you.

*note that there are no Queues ... simply a V shaped mass of human bodies funneling through the gate/door/entrance.
The laugh o' the day. ^ 'Texas
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Old Jun 9, 2009, 11:58 am
  #28  
 
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Personally, I've never bypassed those who have been waiting for their proper turns just for the sake of saving time, which the OP seems to suggest. I have walked around someone at the X-ray who was taking an unreasonable amount of time to organize their belongings onto the belt, which I think is okay to do especially when the person is clearly a casual traveller in the expert lane, but I would never cut the entire line, even if I might miss my flight as a result.
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Old Jun 9, 2009, 12:01 pm
  #29  
 
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Originally Posted by WalkinBackToTexas
Under South American "V"ing* etiquette, you control whether or not someone can push ahead of you be keeping a 1 mm gap between you and the persons in front of and beside you. Occasionally an elbow strike or armbar becomes necessary, or even a rear naked choke if the person is ultimately successful in positioning in front of you.

*note that there are no Queues ... simply a V shaped mass of human bodies funneling through the gate/door/entrance.
"V"ing etiquette also seems to apply at the gate when flying carriers that board planes in zones yet decide to let all zones board at once, despite having assigned seats, as if each individual seat will take off as soon as the passenger sits.
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Old Jun 9, 2009, 12:29 pm
  #30  
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Originally Posted by PhlyingRPh
Now that summer is upon us, and there are many people who are taking a little longer than usual to disrobe and organize their stuff on the conveyor belt, I have begun my annual cut to the front of the line fest (TM), which generally lasts May 25 through mid to late August at domestic checkpoints.
I didn't know there was proper etiquette for boorish behavior.
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