In Line And Out Of Line, Part 22

I’m at a sandwich shop waiting my turn when an older woman cuts me in line. There’s no question of it being a mistake; she knows exactly what she is doing. She immediately crosses her arms and acts like she’s been waiting all day.

I am occupying myself on my phone while I wait and I’m sure she doesn’t think I would notice. I don’t care much, though; the line is moving fast so I don’t say anything.

The person behind the counter sees this and looks at me and then at their coworker with a “What do I do?” expression. Then, an evil little thought pops into my head. I raise my voice past the woman to the sandwich maker.

Me: “It’s okay. She obviously has less time than I do.”

The woman’s back goes rigid and then she slowly turns around to face me.

Customer: “What did you say?”

Me: “You must be running out of time; that’s the only reason I can think of for cutting someone in line. Either that or you’re just rude.”

The woman’s face goes blank, and I can almost see the gears in her head churn as she decides which comment to go after.

Customer: “Are you calling me old?”

Me: “I didn’t say that.”

Customer: “You just said I was old!”

Me: “I didn’t say that, but the fact that you jumped to that conclusion does say something about what you think, now, doesn’t it?”

For a split second, her face goes blank again, and then…

Customer: “You b****—”

She gets cut off by the sandwich maker at the till, in a clear, FIRM voice:

Sandwich Maker: “Madam! Please order your sandwich, or I will have to ask you to leave.”

Customer: “What?! She’s being rude to me!”

Sandwich Maker: “I haven’t heard her say anything rude, and she even let you cut her in line. Everyone here just heard you call her something nasty. What kind of bread would you like?”

The woman either realized she wasn’t going to get anywhere or was so thrown by the sudden change in the topic that she actually ordered her sandwich! I wish I could say the crowd cheered and I got a free cookie, but that was it. The angry, sulking way the woman ordered her sandwich was entertaining, though.

Related:
In Line And Out Of Line, Part 21
In Line And Out Of Line, Part 20
In Line And Out Of Line, Part 19
In Line And Out Of Line, Part 18
In Line And Out Of Line, Part 17