2009.03.08 I hate humans
Because I hate most humans, I tend to regard my forced interaction with others somewhat negatively. Last night, we stopped by a local grocery store to pick up a few things we needed for our baking plans today. There was a not-insignificant number of shoppers in the store at the same time, but there was only one till open for quite a while. We joined the 30-person line, and it continued to grow behind us down the aisle.
At this point I'm unhappy about the ongoing proximity of the other people, but I have no reason to harbour them any ill will. It's the fault of the management that they were not sufficiently staffed to serve their customers in a more timely manner. So it goes. Nevertheless, my instinctive aggression was activated, and needed active tending.
Eventually, another checkout stand is opened up and the line speeds up. However, due to the constraints of the mass of people being politely lined up down one aisle it is not really convenient to distribute entirely to two dedicated lines. Instead, the single line branched naturally as it emerged from the aisle. Right? That's sufficiently obvious, I should think. There are also people still shopping, though, and they tend to want to get past the aisle-checkout line crowd, so a gap tended to be maintained.
Cue the asshole that drew the attention of my misanthropy. He wanders up to the situation and takes a moment to assess. He makes momentary eye contact with me, the woman behind me, and perhaps one other, and decides that instead of going to the back of the line, he's just going to stand where he is. He turned, and pointedly looked forward and pretended there wasn't a line of us behind him, nor that other people were try to get past laterally.
My mind instantly conjured violent fantasies that were extremely vivid and brutally specific. An eyeblink later, my reason and sanity clamped down hard and rendered me inert and mute. Sometimes, I resent being a member of society. Is violence really an appropriate reaction to being cut off in a queue? Of course not. Not in a civilized society, which is the only context where queues are likely to form. But I admit to having instincts that were probably forged in a much more violent pecking-order-oriented society.
The lady behind me was less inhibited than I, however. She said, loudly, "Oh, no you didn't!" The fellow stiffened, but studiously continued to ignore our existence otherwise.
My wife looked up from reading a magazine and asked, "What happened?"
I responded in nothing like a whisper, "This asshole right here just wandered up and cut in line." I watched him stiffen even more, and I could see his ears flush, but he had no other reaction. Which is probably a good thing.