The grocery store was packed today and only two registers were open. I had a full cart and had been waiting in line for about 15 minutes.
Just as I reached the conveyor belt, a woman approached me holding only a carton of eggs and milk. She asked if she could jump ahead of me because she was "in a huge rush" and only had two items.
I was exhausted and my back was hurting, so I said, "Sorry, but I’ve been waiting here for 15 minutes and I just want to get home."
She got offended and started complaining loudly to the people behind me about how "some people are just miserable" and that it would have only taken her 30 seconds. To my surprise, the guy behind me actually agreed with her and called me a jerk for not being "neighborly."
I feel like the point of a line is to wait your turn, regardless of how many items you have. But since multiple people made me feel like a villain, I’m wondering if I was being unnecessarily petty.
AITA for making her wait her turn?
100% NTA. Talk about entitled. Did guy behind you give her HIS spot?
That’s the thing all of these YTAs aren’t clocking. You’re not just letting her cut *you* you’re letting her cut everyone behind you. This isn’t the person immediately behind asking to switch spots. It’s someone joining the front of the line instead of the back. You’re making the decision to be “nice” for everyone in line without their consent, even if they only have an item or two of their own. So I would say not only is OP NTA, but would have been an asshole to everyone else in line if they allowed this person to just bypass the line because they’re “in a hurry”. Fuck that.
NTA. It’s fine for her to ask. And it’s fine for you to say no. Sure, it’s annoying for her, valid, but it’s not cool of her to react so inappropriately. The guy behind you sounds rude AF too. Sorry this happened to you, sounds rough
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Everyone thinks themselves a ✨ special exception ✨
Also why does the person at the head of the line get to set back every person in line behind them by letting ppl cut in front?
It might not be. Something similar happened to me. Got called a bltch because I wouldn’t let someone in front of me
NTA, which I guess is against the consensus and puts me in the minority. You wouldn’t just be letting her cut in front of you. You would be letting her cut in front of everyone else in that 15-minute line. Even if everything goes perfectly, you’re delaying everyone behind you in line by a minute or so. Some of those people are also probably in a hurry.
If everything doesn’t go perfectly—if for some reason her card declines or a manager has to be called because her EBT isn’t working—well who knows how long she will be delaying everyone in line.
I had somebody ask to cut ahead of me with ‘only a couple of items’ when I only had 4 items myself. And the guy behind me had one. I ended up saying “We all only have a few items. This is the express line.”
I’ll say NTA because it would be nice but there’s no obligation, especially when the person is rude about it. Will I sometimes offer to let a person with a very small number go ahead of me when I have a lot? Sure. Do I always? No. It’s not a reasonable expectation. I mean, unless it’s a packet of diapers and some wipes and the person is holding a poop covered baby. Then you kinda have to let them go first. =)
NTA. She has a right to ask. You have a right to politely decline. No one knows why she was in a hurry or whether you were. And if you’d said yes, other people behind you who many ALSO only had a few items would be mad. So she put you in a pretty lame situation. She’s the A H for not accepting your polite rebuff.
When someone cuts to the front of the line they aren’t just cutting you. They are cutting everyone in the line. She should start asking from the last person to the front. Plus why am I deciding that this random person’s time is worth more than someone behind me or mines? NTA
Hey OP!
I have chronic health conditions. Invisible disabilities.
If I had just done a grocery trip enough to fill my cart AND had been waiting in line for 15 minutes, and someone with any amount of items asked me to cut, idgaf if they were bleeding out…. I would’ve said “no. You can wait your turn like everyone else.”
Some people, including the people in these comments saying you are the A.H.… clearly have a sense of entitlement to other people’s time, space and energy and it’s just utterly baffling to me how it matters that this individual had less items than you.
Your time, space and energy is your own and you’re not required to give it to anyone else based on any made up rules of society. There is a line for a reason. If she was in a rush she should’ve planned better.
Lack of preparation on her part does not constitute an emergency on your part.
NTA.
Edit – spelling/grammar errors
For everyone saying op is the AH did yall skip the part where they said they were in physical pain? Or does that not matter to yall? NTA it doesn’t matter if she had less items. There’s a line for a reason and you were standing in it longer than her. She’s not entitled to go in front just because she has less groceries. It’s actually rude to think you can cut the line for that. You’re not special.
I feel like a good 85% of the time I let someone ahead of me, there’s a price problem or the sticker is missing or it doesn’t scan lol
But I also purposely do not go to the grocery store if I’m in any kind of hurry because whenever I rush at the grocery store, I come home with crap lol
I do always appreciate it when folks see I only have a few items and offer for me to go in front out of kindness. I’d never, ever ask someone to let me cut, though. That’s just rude.