queuing with a toddler

[iowmum88]

queuing today at the post office sorting office bout 12 people in front of me all i was doing was picking up a parcel and didn't expect it to be so busy. my DS wanted 2 get down and play but it wasn't really safe people coming in and out other then that was behaving really well just bored.

if i was on my own without DS and another parent was there in the same situation i would of asked if it was going to be a quick thing and if yes i would have offered for them to go in front of me.

is that just me?

oh and if anyone else who looked like they needed to go in front for a genuine reason like a struggling elderly person i would do the same.

Yabu

If your DS was behaving well and there weren't any signs of distress from him/you, I would probably have left it. If he just looked bored, I wouldn't have noticed, and I do tend to be on the lookout for 'vulnerable' people, particularly since being pregnant.

Also, 12 people in a queue, I imagine nobody would know whose role it would be to let you go, or wanted to take responsibility for you skipping everyone else.

So yes, if visible distressed/elderly etc, then fine, but otherwise, people don't notice.

I think YABU. A queue is a queue - wait in line, we all have to.

Sorry

YABU.

I always let pregnant people jump the queue for the toilet, but otherwise no special queue-jumping rights apply.

Next....

YABU to expect it, you do not know what could have been happening in the lives of any of theose 12 other people, pain in a rush to get elsewhere to pick up their own children etc.

Yes it's lovely when it happens but that's because it is out of the ordinary, having a toddler does not transport you automatically to the front of every queue.

I wouldn't offer TBH. If someone's chosen to join a long queue with their DC that's up to them. Likewise I wouldn't expect or accept anyone letting me queue jump if I had DS with me. Just because other people didn't have DCs with them didn't mean they were in no less of a hurry.

Queuing's part of life I think, DS will have to learn to wait his turn in school situation and soon enough anyway.

Maybe I'm just mean.

Is the question were the others in the queue BU for not letting you queue jump?

If so then no, they weren't. What if they let you to the front, then another person came in with a fidgety toddler? They could have been there for ages!

A queue is a queue. It's fair. It's simple. It works.

With 12 people in front of you you were VERY unlikely to encounter that kind of kindness.

It would have to entail MASS kindness. As all of them would have to let you go first.

YABU.

If you were old and doddery then yes...go first. But toddlers don't give you carte blanche to go first.

YABU I never expect people to let me go in front because my child is getting impatient. Even less so if he is behaving!

No I don't think YABU...in fact I think it is very thoughtful that you would think of doing that. I might not have been so thoughtful, or it wouldn't have entered my mind even though I have a toddler and detest waiting in queues with him.

YABU. If I'm in a queue I'm invariably on a break from work and have to get back ASAP.

In any case, as others have said: a queue is a queue and you wait your turn (obvious emergencies excepted).

YABU

Your son needs to learn to queue like everyone else.

YABU... I was queuing from outside the town centre PO door the other day with DD2 and I didn't think for a minute I should be let through, the guy in front of me looked about ready to collapse anyway! I said to DD2 that if she queued nicely like a big girl she could have a milkshake :o

so there was no emergency like little ones needing the loo, or being pregnant etc and you expected people to let you go in front of them just because you had DC with you?

eh, no. YABU. get in the queue like the rest of us. you have no idea what was going on with the rest of the people there (a high pressure work environment where they need to be back ASAP in the office at lunchtime, someone who's not feeling well, someone worried about posting something on time, whatever).

YANBU to expect a little consideration if you have a genuine reason to go before others (as i said, like a loo problem, or if your toddler is getting upset and it's noticable) but just because you have DS with you - get over yourself!

It's not just you. If I can I will ask if someone who looks in a hurry wants to go ahead of me if I have time. I suppose the only time I kind of expect anyone to do the same for me would be if I had maybe 2 items at the supermarket and they had a massive trolley.

If my DS was going mad or if I was in a desparate hurry I would simply ask the people infront of me whether they could let me go first. In a PO this is hard though because you have no idea whether they are buying a 1st class stamp or paying 4000 bills in 2p coins.

YABU, I'm sure everyone could find an excuse to jump the queue if necessary. As frgr said you have no idea what is going on in other peoples' lives and their health could be bad but not visibly so.

Sorry, I think you can't expect that, but it is lovely of you to offer for others.

When in that situation with DD, I usually hold her hand and she circles round and round me, keeps her amused!

The British are quite rigid about queue etiquette isn't it, so I don't think there's much hope of that happening. In Singapore I noticed that in a taxi queue if there's someone with a crying baby or toddler everyone moves aside and lets that person/family through first.