Miss Malsy On Manners

Q: While waiting in line at the airport, the guy in front of me waved several friends over and they cut right in. I fumed. Should I have said something?

A: Four words: first come, first served. If these guys wanted to be served at the check-in counter before you, they should have come to the airport earlier. It’s not like you set your alarm for 4:30 a.m., strained your back hoisting luggage, and sprinted through the terminal for the fun of it.

Of course your new queuemates didn’t simply infiltrate the line solo; they had inside help. This shifts their crime from the clearly insidious cutting to the more murky premeditated place-saving. Assemble a jury of average Americans and you’ll find that the majority see place-saving — “Honey, you get in line and I’ll be along with our darling children” — as the manifest destiny of those traveling with family and friends. Forget the Golden Rule. In the airport, nepotism trumps justice.

But because it saves time at the expense of others, place-saving, like cutting, is bad manners. So go ahead, express your irritation to these interlopers. Just keep it civil. Otherwise, thanks to airport security, you may find yourself fingered as the ranting madman who loses his place in line for good. — Kristina Malsberger

Have a travel etiquette question? E-mail Miss Malsy at otr@csaa.com

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