I generally find it too much work to worry about being cut in front of in line. I mean, if someone knowingly and willfully cut in front of me, I'd say something. But when someone innocently manages to end up ahead of me in a line, I don't sweat it too much. That's the way I see Crotchety A. The only problem is, I know that type, and I know that even after it was pointed out to her that she had cut she didn't even remotely begin to CARE. *THAT* pisses me off. If someone innocently cuts in line, then has it pointed out to them, they should at least have the decency to be genuinely sorry for it. As a token of gratitude for their genuine innocence and regret, I'd almost always let them continue in front of me. But when they get all huffy about it, I want to punch them.

From the description of that particular McDonalds and being a frequent patron of old Choke-and-Barfs myself, I can get behind the people who inadvertantly cut. I can *also* get behind Indignant B to an extent, because some people get more worked up than I do about small things like being cut in front of in line. And hey, rules are rules. I think carrying it on afterwards was going a little far, but hey, like I said, I know the "Crotchety A" type. If I'd been of the mind to bring it up in the first place, I'd probably be even *more* indignant by the seemingly uncaring attitude of the old hag.

The snickering guys I can easily imagine as myself and a friend, so I can't fault them. They weren't helpful, but they didn't hurt anything either.

I have this sinking feeling that, having encoutered the type way too many times in lily-white New Hampshire, Profanity G probably wouldn't have been *nearly* as indignant about the guys who cut if they hadn't been black. Obviously I can say nothing good about him.

Everyone else... Eh. They reacted fairly normally. Even the worker who "changed the rules" was only acting normally. How did this spontaneous bank line form, anyway? And was McDonald's enforcing it? Obviously not, if nobody had informed the worker that there *wasn't* four lines.

That being said, I've been in a lot of McDonald's and other fast-food restaurants that have the wooden rails up to force people into bank-style lines. I think I prefer these, except when the person two customers in front of me has to spend 20 minutes reading the menu before ordering. Come ON people, it's McDonald's! The menu hasn't changed significantly in the last 20 years. Either you know what you want, or you can stand in the back until you figure it out.

-- Dave