line cutters...

[hkkatie]

I know this has probably been discussed many times, so I'm sorry to bring up an old subject.

Yesterday my 3.5 yo dd and I were out doing some shopping. I'm 7 months pregnant, and so have to go to the bathroom a lot. Anyway, we find a restroom, and since it's a busy Saturday, the line is going out the door. I didn't know where we'd find another restroom, so we got in line. Luckily it was moving fairly quickly, but when there were only about 4 people left in front of us, this mom and her 7 or 8 year old daughter come strolling in and the mom is pushing her way in front of everyone. The girl is holding her privates like she has to go, but she's smiling kinda goofily. Honestly, to me it looked like her mom had told her to act like she had to go really bad. Anyway, she pushes her way to the front of the line (which at that point was a lot longer than when I had gotten in line) and takes the next available stall. Nobody said a word.

You better believe I wanted to say a word! In my mind I was thinking "What makes you think you have the right to cut in front of all of us? I'm 7 months pg and I have a toddler. what makes you think that your 8 year old kid can't hold it longer than my toddler?" KWIM? I probably would have said something except that I'm in a different country than my own and the last thing I want to do is look like a rude, pushy foreigner. (And there's no guarantee she would have understood what I was saying anyway.) But man, I was ticked. (And granted, she could have some health condition that makes it hard to control when she has to go, but still.....)

What would you have done? Would you have said anything? Do you think she had any right to cut because she had a kid?

[MineralDiva]

Well, if she was putting on an act, then shame on her.  If she wasn't, then it was probably a good thing she was able to forge ahead.  I'd hate to think that a true bathroom emergency would end in embarrassment for the person having the "emergency."  Especially if that person was a child.

[Gigi]

It's a hard call to make, especially since there can be so many unknown factors in this situation.  I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt, but I think the mother should have made some apology and asked if they could go first to avoid an emergency.

I was in a similar situation one cold New Years Eve.  We were manning our sidewalk space in anticipation of the Rose Parade.  They set up porta potties in some areas but none were in reasonable walking distance so we had to search for a public restroom.  When we found one there were about 25 women in line for 2 stalls.  We spent quite a long, uncomfortable time in that line!  You know how much worse it gets when you're really cold?  Anyway, when we were 3 people away from the goal a "sweet young thing" breezed in and grabbed a stall just as it was being vacated.  We were speechless at her nerve but you can bet she got an earful from more than one women in the line when she came out and had to pass by all of them.  She just smirked. Twit!

[lolane]

I would have said "Excuse me, there is a line." I understand that children have emergencies, the proper way to handle it is to say to those who have been waiting patiently, "I'm sorry but my DD needs to go really bad, would you mind if we went ahead of you." It is not appropriate for someone to cut a line without asking even if it is an emergency. I've actually had to say this before and the person has never said, "My DD needs to go really bad." They always look sheepish and say, "Oh, I'm sorry" and get in line.

Also, in these cases I've never seen the child have an accident either.

[Bijou]

I know this has probably been discussed many times, so I'm sorry to bring up an old subject.

Yesterday my 3.5 yo dd and I were out doing some shopping. I'm 7 months pregnant, and so have to go to the bathroom a lot. Anyway, we find a restroom, and since it's a busy Saturday, the line is going out the door. I didn't know where we'd find another restroom, so we got in line. Luckily it was moving fairly quickly, but when there were only about 4 people left in front of us, this mom and her 7 or 8 year old daughter come strolling in and the mom is pushing her way in front of everyone. The girl is holding her privates like she has to go, but she's smiling kinda goofily. Honestly, to me it looked like her mom had told her to act like she had to go really bad. Anyway, she pushes her way to the front of the line (which at that point was a lot longer than when I had gotten in line) and takes the next available stall. Nobody said a word.

You better believe I wanted to say a word! In my mind I was thinking "What makes you think you have the right to cut in front of all of us? I'm 7 months pg and I have a toddler. what makes you think that your 8 year old kid can't hold it longer than my toddler?" KWIM? I probably would have said something except that I'm in a different country than my own and the last thing I want to do is look like a rude, pushy foreigner. (And there's no guarantee she would have understood what I was saying anyway.) But man, I was ticked. (And granted, she could have some health condition that makes it hard to control when she has to go, but still.....)

What would you have done? Would you have said anything? Do you think she had any right to cut because she had a kid?

Sometimes it is just better to go with the assumption that the person has an emergency and let it go, but I can understand feeling put off by it.  I wonder why she just didn't say something quietly to at least the first person in line.  Maybe the kid had diarrhea or something.  That definitely justifies going to the front of the line. 

[emeraldsage85]

My mom did this when I was a kid. I was projectile vomiting in a restaurant and there was a line for the bathroom. My mom yelled "she's going to throw up!" and hustled me past the line and into the next stall.

[Asharah]

Here's another question. If a public place like a mall or a theatre has long lines in the bathroom during a large amount of their operating hours, wouldn't that suggest they have an insufficent amount of bathroom facilities to accomadate the clientele?

[Twik]

Yes, but unfortunately as long as the customers tolerate it, they're unlikely to do anything about it.

Our training room at work has the most awkward "facilities" arrangement, but whenever I mention it to management I get "Do you know how much it would cost to redo the plumbing?"

[Rach]

My mom did this when I was a kid. I was projectile vomiting in a restaurant and there was a line for the bathroom. My mom yelled "she's going to throw up!" and hustled me past the line and into the next stall.

Me too.

I hope you are excused for the rudeness if you are alone and can't speak on the way in!

I apologised on the way out.

Since the kid was not alone, the mother should have said something.

[Sterling]

the mother rreally should have let everyone know that she wasn't trying to be rude but that her child really could not hold it.  She should have said please, excuse me and then thank you.  People feathers would be a lot less ruffled if they at least felt like she felt bad for cutting.