Cutters

So has anyone else noticed that cutting is back?

I don't mean cutting in the Lifetime movie, I-cut-so-I-can-feel sense of the word. I mean low down dirty cutters who would rather jump to the head of the line than wait their GD turns.

I suppose in many ways cutting has always been around. And I have been pissed off about it since kindergarten when a little boy named Chris cut me in line at snack time and then I got in trouble for pinching him. Come on! Clearly the expected response to someone cutting in front of you at 5 years old is a well placed pinch on the arm.

If only that were the way these days.

Instead, the world is rife with people who IGNORE cutters. People who would rather turn around and murmur to the person behind them "um, I was next right?" then speak up and say "Excuse me dillhole? There is a line. "

I, as you may expect, cannot stand idly why when cutting is going on.

A few weekends ago I was at the Coach outlet in Wrentham and it was a mob scene, as it loves to be on Saturday afternoons. Having fought my way through the crowd and somehow managed to snag the last lime green pebbled leather Hamptons tote, I made my way to the twenty person line that snaked it's way through the store. Now, unless you lack the power of sight there is No Way you could miss this line, with it's red-taped barriers and women clutching bags for purchasing. But this did not stop a woman, dilly dallying in the clutch section on the other side of the store, from sprinting to the next available cashier when she called out "Who's next in line!?". Even though at this point I was about eight people deep in the line, I was aghast. The two women in front turned around and said "Are you serious". I, on the other hand, yelled out "Excuse me we are all in line here!" which turned out to be the rallying cry as a chorus of "YEAHs!" rang out. The cashier looked at me helplessly and shrugged while Miss Cuts The Line didn't even have the balls to turn around and look at us. And so she learned a valuable lesson, that if you are a withering bitch you can cut the line and no one will stop you.

Which brings me to another point, cashiers who don't send withering bitches to the back of the line. When I told her that we were all waiting in line, she hadn't even begun to ring this woman up so it would have been really easy to say "Oh I'm sorry ma'am there is a line over there". But, as is the case with many women, they think it's easier just to let it go.

Then, on Saturday I stopped by a local bakery to pick up some mini pastries for guests we were entertaining that night. It was late in the day and so the place was packed with people picking up last minute things. I got in the several person long line to wait patiently for my petits-fours when a couple walked in and began perusing the coffee rolls. When the cashier yelled out "Who's next!" the girlfriend waved the cashier over and had the nerve to say "We are!"

!!!!!

The two old ladies in front, God bless them, were not having it. "Actually we're next!" one of them said. The cashier evidently didn't hear her so I took it upon myself to leave the line and step in front of the couple and say "Actually there is a line here and these two ladies are next". So the cashier could have just deffered to Scary Petits Fours Lady (moi) and done the right thing. Instead she said "Oh..sorry" and the girlfriend said "Oh we didn't know" and STILL went forward with her purchase!!

As long as cutters of the world get their way, it will never stop. So I ask you to step up. If you work in retail and use the cash regsiter, put your foot down and don't reward these rude ill-mannered people with the luxury of not having to wait in line. If you are in line and you see a cutter, speak up.

Don't be a cutter-enabler.