Father Keeping You In Line

It’s Father’s Day weekend, so I offer to take my dad to a movie that he wants to see. I purchase our tickets before arriving so we just scan them and go straight to the concession, which has really short lines for a Saturday evening. There’s only one family in front of us.

While we’re waiting for them to finish up, an older man suddenly shows up next to me — my dad is on my left and this man is on my right. He’s holding an empty popcorn tub and just creates his own line. 

It’s worth mentioning that there are at least three other concession lines open, each with only one or two people being helped. He had to pass at least one of those lines to reach the one we’re at.

When the family in front of us leaves, the man suddenly steps up in front of us. I really don’t feel like sticking my foot out to trip an old guy, despite his rudeness, but the cashier refills his popcorn like everything’s okay.

I say to my dad, quite loudly, “I guess we don’t have to stand in lines anymore?”

Neither the man or the cashier acknowledge why he was cutting. I’m pretty sure they serve refills for certain popcorn tub purchases, but it’s really rude to make someone standing in line wait just because the guy ate his popcorn super fast and wants to rush back to his movie.

My dad told me later he was sighing that I said anything because he didn’t know if the man would try to pick a fight. I still think the guy was rude but it’s not the first time in my life an old man has cut in front of me and I don’t know why it’s wrong to call it out.