Getting into line. Standing in line. Staying in line. These are all things we learn early in life. From standing in line to go to recess, lunch and home. From the library, to the post office and the grocery store later in life. This is not a complicated task, in fact, ants do it all day every day.  Elephants walk hundreds of miles in a straight line… it’s not  hard. Yet, it seems to be something that we as humans cannot do.

My first example is the Cubs v. Dodgers spring training game last week. We drove across town to get to the stadium, only to wait in line to park for the same amount of time it took to actually get there. Once in line, cars would continue to get out of line, zip around the line and then try to cut back in further up. And of course, someone would let them in (probably tourists…). Sadly, we didn’t have Peter’s huge truck so we couldn’t park it in between lanes thus preventing such ridiculous behavior. Peter likes this trick when people try to get around the line to get on the freeway while he’s commuting home. When I attempted this trick, the man who I would not let over proceeded to scream at me for over a minute….and then ended up parking 2 spaces away from me. Lesson learned: unless you want to sit in your car for 10 minutes waiting to make sure the jerk doesn’t key your car, just let the guy over. Better yet, don’t drive to the west side for baseball games.

The prime example of people not waiting in line happened this morning at the grocery store. Because I get to stay home with Baylie, we’ve become very good at running errands together. You have to become a side-show act when it comes to balancing and carrying random objects when you have to have a munchkin with you at all times. I am so good (if I do say so myself) that I carried the kiddo, two hot dogs AND two beers at the above mentioned game last week. Yes, I am talented, thank you for noticing. I am also of the belief that even though I have a baby, the entire world does not stop to help me and I’m ok with that. However, it would be nice if people didn’t make it harder to complete normal tasks. At the grocery, I had a full cart and Baylie in the baby bjorn (for those unfamiliar, it’s not only a godsend but a contraption that straps the kiddo to your chest) on the way to the check out. Because it was early, the store was pretty empty but the woman in front of me had a cart so full it made mine look empty. An old man walked up with two items and began to huff and puff about the fact that he was going to have to wait. Mind you, there are FOUR self check out stands open, but that would require work on his part and therefore unacceptable. When another checker showed up, he literally cut me off to get to the open stand. Now, I’m a nice person and was going to offer to let him go ahead of me – but since he cut me off, I felt compelled to tell him in the sweetest tone “no no, it’s fine, please go ahead!”. Sadly, I don’t think his hearing aid was turned up and he didn’t hear me – or I like to think he was so embarrassed he pretended he didn’t hear me. So, next time you’re at the store and someone with a baby is near by, first, don’t cut in front of them, second, if you see someone cut, be sure to call them out for being a total butt head.

Lastly, you know when you’re walking into Starbucks or the dry cleaners and a person races you to the door so they can get in line first? I don’t have a story, here I just think it’s annoying. Thankfully for me, the dry cleaners we go to love Baylie so I usually get helped first no matter where I am in line! Take that line cutters!

Also, open the door for women with strollers. Yes, we can do it, but it’s nice when someone does it for you. And don’t be part of the problem, be part of the solution, wait your turn in line 🙂