I have a line etiquette question. We went to Lockhart Smokehouse for lunch yesterday and I was the third person in line before the door opened for business. About two minutes before the door opened, four co-workers of the two men in front of me just slipped into line ahead of me to be with their group. I didn’t say anything, but if I were them, I would have would gotten in line behind me. It’s not a big deal, there was plenty of BBQ to go around, but I was curious to know if what they did was appropriate or not?
While at Lockhart, I noticed my picture was on the wall from the time I attended one of their smoke camps. It’s not a profile pic, I’m in the background, but you can spot a bearded Geeding in it.
I noticed I had a 2,800 unique visitor increase in blog traffic on Friday. My research indicates that comedian Tim Heidecker tweeted my post about Jim Baker to his 478k followers.
If you ever come across one of those annoying websites that use a slideshow slide for every single slide, as opposed to just listing everything on one page, try Deslide.
I didn’t do the math, but I read that if a person’s average dump is ten minutes, and that person does such a thing at work, that equates to forty hours of paid vacation each year.
Jared Fogle is going to prison as part of a plea deal for having sex with underage girls and possession of child pornography, and his wife is now seeking divorce. If they were members of The Village Church, she wouldn’t be able to start such a thing so soon without first seeking some sort of reconciliation.
Josh Duggar Rumored to Have Had an Ashley Madison Account – There also seems to be a lot of local, state, and federal government emails as part of this data breach. I’m amazed at how willing so many people are giving their work email addresses as part of anything personal. At of fear of getting in trouble for even the smallest thing at work, I never give my work email out for anything, even to my family. It just seems like a no-brainer thing to be professional enough to keep non-work stuff associated with a private email. And I’ll admit at times there might be a small amount of overlap.
I caught the Rex Ryan feature on HBO’s ‘Real Sports’ and as in-depth as it was, there wasn’t any reference to his foot fetish that was exposed. That episode also had a segment on that Arkansas high school coach with four state titles who never punts and always onside kicks. I thought it was interesting to keep the kick return team guessing, he has 12 different types of onside kicks, with the most interesting one that includes a little known rule of being able to pick the ball up from tee and pitching it back to another player to dropkick it. Of all things, I think I was most impressed with his knowledge of statistical analysis regarding certain game situations and how he plays the odds. Last year their only loss was to our local Highland Park high school, and they will be their first game this year in Dallas, which might be worth going to on Friday, September 4.
Cutting in line is never acceptable, but I'm with you, I wouldn't have said anything either, people that rude cannot be educated and you would just be wasting your time. On a side note sometimes I see people doing rude things such as you describe while wearing nametags or such that identifies them as an employee of a certain company or group, I bet their employers would not be too happy with the notoriety they are bringing to the company.
I agree that the line cutting you experienced wasn't acceptable. In my mind, the four guys who showed up late should have queued up behind you, and if you saw them talking to their friends in front of you, you could have offered to let them join their party. But that was your choice to make, not theirs.
Like you, I wouldn't have said anything, either, because there was no harm caused. But part of that is likely due to our Southern upbringing, whereas folks from other parts of the country (like the Northeast) would have less problem calling someone out. This is something that always fascinates me at Disney, a place where people routinely try to "beat" the lines. The worst offenders are the big tour groups, generally from other countries (I'm looking at you, Brazil). They'll send 2-3 people, generally the adult tour guides, into line while the other 40-50 teenagers run to the restroom and grab a snack or whatever. Meanwhile, you're waiting in line behind 2-3 people wearing neon lime-colored shirts, and suddenly there are dozens of people trying to "join their party" in front of you. Nope. It's fun to see the groups try to do that in front of big, burly New Yorkers. The "no speak English" line doesn't work on Vinny from Brooklyn. 🙂
Interesting query. I admit that I just spent an inordinate amount of time googling line etiquette and whether or not it is okay to save a place in line! Most people agree that it is never appropriate to cut in line, but it sure seems like a lot of people do it. I don't know Lockharts but I guess you go through a line to place your order before going to sit down? Can't imagine it would be a big deal if they just joined their coworkers before being seated together anyway. And surely it also would be different if they were already there, but had to step away to go to the bathroom or something like that, right?
I think it may be situational for me as to whether or not I may speak up – how rushed am I? how many people are trying to join their group? how long have I been waiting? We've all probably been guilty of saving a place for a friend or family member at one point or other, but I always feel awkward when doing it. Did you know that there are actually professional "line standers" in some countries? "We do the hard part of standing in line so you don't have to." (Note my comment above about spending too much time researching the question).
I would say the polite thing to do is not to get in line until your entire party is together. Now, how about saving seats at a crowded event? Is that the same kind of situation? Some movie theaters have gone to assigned seating now; I wonder if it is because of that.
Thinking about it some more, here's another caveat. Personally, I don't mind if the person in front of me is holding a place for a spouse or just one other person, but strangely, I'd feel different if the person was holding a place for a family of four. Well, maybe not, because in the case of Lockhart, that would be one big order, which I think would be faster than four individual orders. All that to say, you got me thinking and I'm not sure exactly what I think.
Every day I scan the newspaper, television and the internet searching for at least one positive little piece of news to celebrate. And this morning, first thing, right out of the box….Boom!
"I didn’t do the math, but I read that if a person’s average dump is ten minutes, and that person does such a thing at work, that equates to forty hours of paid vacation each year."
And if you read BON while at work? Boggles the mind.
My "ire" at line jumping changes based on setting, age of jumpers, and how long I have been there. I probably wouldn't have been upset in this case, as there are a few times we are holding a business meeting with out of town guest, take them to lunch and a few guys may get their early to start the line. Of course, we are also more than likely to let the next person through out of respect, so…
Legitimate question… is it "okay" to fill out a receipt like in the pic above? I genuinely like to round up bills including tip to an even dollar, so this would be awesome for me!
the vague tip amount should be okay. I seem to recall leaving the tip line blank and rounding up the total, but I might try that for fun. I imagine they're only interested in the total amount anyway. Wonder if that gave anybody a chuckle
Cutting in line is never acceptable, but I'm with you, I wouldn't have said anything either, people that rude cannot be educated and you would just be wasting your time. On a side note sometimes I see people doing rude things such as you describe while wearing nametags or such that identifies them as an employee of a certain company or group, I bet their employers would not be too happy with the notoriety they are bringing to the company.
I agree that the line cutting you experienced wasn't acceptable. In my mind, the four guys who showed up late should have queued up behind you, and if you saw them talking to their friends in front of you, you could have offered to let them join their party. But that was your choice to make, not theirs.
Like you, I wouldn't have said anything, either, because there was no harm caused. But part of that is likely due to our Southern upbringing, whereas folks from other parts of the country (like the Northeast) would have less problem calling someone out. This is something that always fascinates me at Disney, a place where people routinely try to "beat" the lines. The worst offenders are the big tour groups, generally from other countries (I'm looking at you, Brazil). They'll send 2-3 people, generally the adult tour guides, into line while the other 40-50 teenagers run to the restroom and grab a snack or whatever. Meanwhile, you're waiting in line behind 2-3 people wearing neon lime-colored shirts, and suddenly there are dozens of people trying to "join their party" in front of you. Nope. It's fun to see the groups try to do that in front of big, burly New Yorkers. The "no speak English" line doesn't work on Vinny from Brooklyn. 🙂
Interesting query. I admit that I just spent an inordinate amount of time googling line etiquette and whether or not it is okay to save a place in line! Most people agree that it is never appropriate to cut in line, but it sure seems like a lot of people do it. I don't know Lockharts but I guess you go through a line to place your order before going to sit down? Can't imagine it would be a big deal if they just joined their coworkers before being seated together anyway. And surely it also would be different if they were already there, but had to step away to go to the bathroom or something like that, right?
I think it may be situational for me as to whether or not I may speak up – how rushed am I? how many people are trying to join their group? how long have I been waiting? We've all probably been guilty of saving a place for a friend or family member at one point or other, but I always feel awkward when doing it. Did you know that there are actually professional "line standers" in some countries? "We do the hard part of standing in line so you don't have to." (Note my comment above about spending too much time researching the question).
I would say the polite thing to do is not to get in line until your entire party is together. Now, how about saving seats at a crowded event? Is that the same kind of situation? Some movie theaters have gone to assigned seating now; I wonder if it is because of that.
Thinking about it some more, here's another caveat. Personally, I don't mind if the person in front of me is holding a place for a spouse or just one other person, but strangely, I'd feel different if the person was holding a place for a family of four. Well, maybe not, because in the case of Lockhart, that would be one big order, which I think would be faster than four individual orders. All that to say, you got me thinking and I'm not sure exactly what I think.
At Franklin's BBQ, they all would have been thrown out. Of course, by the time the doors opened you would have already been in line several hours.
And Brent, there re professional line standers in Austin. Check Craigslist.
They missed Stan Lee's best cameo – Mallrats.
Every day I scan the newspaper, television and the internet searching for at least one positive little piece of news to celebrate. And this morning, first thing, right out of the box….Boom!
"I didn’t do the math, but I read that if a person’s average dump is ten minutes, and that person does such a thing at work, that equates to forty hours of paid vacation each year."
And if you read BON while at work? Boggles the mind.
Virtual high-five, this gave me a good laugh.
DESLIDE = Awesome.
My "ire" at line jumping changes based on setting, age of jumpers, and how long I have been there. I probably wouldn't have been upset in this case, as there are a few times we are holding a business meeting with out of town guest, take them to lunch and a few guys may get their early to start the line. Of course, we are also more than likely to let the next person through out of respect, so…
Legitimate question… is it "okay" to fill out a receipt like in the pic above? I genuinely like to round up bills including tip to an even dollar, so this would be awesome for me!
40 hours in the bathroom? That's a crappy vacation.
the vague tip amount should be okay. I seem to recall leaving the tip line blank and rounding up the total, but I might try that for fun. I imagine they're only interested in the total amount anyway. Wonder if that gave anybody a chuckle