What does this school mum actually think the rest of us are queuing for??

[aperolspritzbasicbitch]

In general I arrive at my child’s school for pick up about 5 minutes before the playground gate is opened. Not on purpose, it just happens that sometimes the walk is quicker than others. Sometimes I’m the first one there, sometimes there are a few people in front, and others join the queue behind me.

One particular mum will turn up bang on collection time (fine) and just walk past the queue of people patiently waiting and stand right in front of the gate.
As if we aren’t all there for the same reason.

It actually baffles me that she seems to think that her need to collect her child is any greater than the rest of us, but so far haven’t said anything because I can’t be arsed with any playground drama, although yesterday I was tempted to side step in front of her just as the gate was open.

is this not just straight up rude behaviour?

What happens when you say the queue is back there?

Did you not read the ops post?

Its boggling op. People like that have very main character energy and think the world revolves around them

Does it actually make a difference as to how quickly you collect your child? Our "queue" is to the gates but once they are open it's a free-for-all on the playground and how quickly you get your child depends on the order they come out of the classroom, unrelated to where you were outside the gates.

So if that's the case it makes no odds where she stands. Is it also one of those queues where people leave massive unnecessary gaps? If there's room for her to stand in front of you maybe she's making a point that you aren't forming an efficient queue.

It'll be because she's oblivious rather than anything malicious. I used to do this at my son's nursery because I actually (stupidly) didn't realise it was a queue. Someone kindly mentioned it was a queuing system and I was mortified, and have joined the queue correctly ever since. Don't assume intent when it's likely just inadvertent. So, either you stew pointlessly or you kindly mention the system. If she then ignores the queue despite realising, then you have a case to be annoyed. Don't be a dick and push her out the way, it reflects badly on you.

Is a queue actually necessary? Can only one person go through the gate at once?

Is it just a queue to get in the gates,or is each child released individually, to the parent at the front of the queue?

but so far haven’t said anything because I can’t be arsed with any playground drama

Yes I did. And I find it mind boggling too. But if you don't challenge you'll never know what's behind it.

Spot the people who would do the same as this school mum queue jumper does.😂

In my mind, there’s enough room in the playground for everyone, and the kids all come out at roughly the same time, so where you are in the queue is immaterial eg there is no need for an actual queue. In fact the queue is probably making the process slower as everyone dutifully shuffles in. If everyone just milled around and wandered up as and when (which is how it always used to be done), you’d still all get your kids at the same time but you could all wait for less time.

I’d never jump the queue for this because I’d never get in the queue! I’d arrive a minute after the gates open and just stroll up onto the playground and collect my child at the same time as everyone else without ever having queued for one minute 🤷‍♀️ this has been my strategy for all school based things and it’s never failed me yet as school never ever let kids out early!

Why are you queuing at all? Gates are big, there's plenty of room and it's not like you're hoping to get a decent seat in the theatre.

You're just walking down to collect your child when the teacher sends them out. Who entered the playground gates first doesn't have any bearing on that.

(I'm always running in at the last minute so this never applied to me)

I often wonder the same about people who see a queue at the bus stop and then walk past it to stand at the front

the gate is ‘one at a time’ width, so you do need to queue to go through it.

It doesn’t actually make even a slight different to how fast you collect your child, because thats totally dependant on when their teacher releases them from class/how long they fanny around for getting their bags and coats.

i could never see a line of people all waiting to get to the same place as me and just think ‘fuck it, I’ll walk past them all’

she’s able to get to the front of the queue because no sane person arrives and stands directly in front of a high gate, do they? Although I might actually step closer today if I find myself at the front of the queue and see her coming.

What are you all queuing for?

The op literally said she'd not said anything. So your post was completely daft

At my grandsons school everyone queues from a variety of angles.
And some buzz to be let in the school itself.
All very friendly and informal; dogs on and off lead, parents on bikes with extra helmets in hand.
The queiuing starts after to shake the headmasters hand.

There you go then. It's not really a queue, it's just somewhere people are waiting before they move to another place to wait some more. So she's not queue jumping, just making more efficient use of the space than the rest of you are.

It’s the very definition of a queue…

It isn't. It's a holding space till you move somewhere else and your place in this "queue" makes no difference to your final outcome. So anyone choosing to stand back from the gate for no reason and increase the space people are using to hang about in is just being inefficient.

She should crack on as she is.

If the system isn’t sending out the children one at a time to the parent at the front of the queue and so on, then the queue is entirely pointless because it really doesn’t matter who gets into the playground first.

Is it an actual queue as in a very defined line of people waiting to go through. Then why isn't the person at the front of the queue standing right next to the gate?

Or is it more a random mass of people standing roughly by the gate waiting for it to open? Ours is more like that and there are definitely times I've walked up and gone in first as I've got that momentum, even though there are other people waiting as they are all dotted around.

A queue is a line of people waiting their turn to be attended to or to proceed.

We are queuing to proceed. Just like you would if you arrived at a shop before it opened.

It’s a line of people. A queue.

the person at the front would be directly in front of the gate - maybe a metre away as it’s a tall gate made with one sheet of metal. If you stand any close you would just be nose to nose with it.

If it’s not making a difference on when dc are let out then it surely doesn’t matter.