Was I in the wrong to push in the queue ?

[crisikrinkles]

Went into the post office in our town.
It’s always packed and they had two serving.
I needed currency and places never normally have it without ordering.
I needed it that day as we were travelling at night (last minute I know )
There was probably 20 people in front of me.
I didn’t want to wait in the queue incase I stood there and they didn’t have it anyway.
So I went to a counter and just said “before I queue can I just check you have this currency “
A woman barked “there’s a queue !”
I explained I wasn’t pushing in,I was just checking they had something before I got to the back of the queue.
She shouted “ no you wait to ask questions “

was i in the wrong ?

Everyone in the queue was waiting to ask their question Most people are not queuing to ask a question though, they are queuing to « do » something. OP then joined the queue to buy her currencies, so she didn’t skip it, she just made sure she was queueing in the right place!

I don't see an issue with it.

The cashier could easily answer without having to stop what they were doing.

Wouldn't have bothered me at all.

It was fine. Took seconds didn’t hold anyone else up. You could have wasted half an hour for nothing. I would have done the same, although I would have been aware I’d be having daggers at the back of my head.

I would have phoned and asked

Yes you were unreasonable in the circumstances. However, the post office is unreasonable for not having a fast track queue for people only there to purchase currency (where you would be the next customer for the currency counter, irrespective of the general queue for parcels etc). Ours used to have one of these and they got rid of it, which is really annoying, because, even when you get to the front of the general queue, you have to wait for the specific (currency) counter to become free, whereas everyone else with mail can go to any counter. It's bad customer service.

To ask if was worth joining the queue doesn’t seem a big deal but @Talltreesbythelake makes a good point. The person serving may have needed to check. Stopping to do that would have been very rude of her., rudeness caused by your impatience and lack of preparation for your trip. Rather than pissing a queue of people off you could have got currency at the airport or destination.

😂 I thought this was going to be the mum who always jumps the queue at the school gates.

Yes, you should have waited.
If you were desperate, you could have asked the person at the front of the queue if they minded you asking a quick question.
But just barging in makes you look entitled.

This 100% and it’s why like another person said our obsession with queuing makes a mockery of us.

I was once in The Range and went over to the tills to grab some batteries. The people in the queue were losing their shit at me but I wasn’t ready to pay and I wanted to see what batteries they had.
I wasn’t queuing up in a paying queue just to wait to look at the batteries and I told them exactly that.

I’d have asked whoever was in front if they minded me asking a quick question on currency.

You didn’t jump the queue. You’re queuing to buy currency, not to ask if they have it. No point waiting ages for a service you can’t receive!

I don't mean to be horrible or anything, it's nothing personal, but while I understand you just wanted to check to see if they have what you wanted, at the same time, there were several others before you, some of whom were waiting patiently longer than you and might have had their own questions.

i think YWBU
Because: either they had the currency in which case you have to wait to get it, or they don't have the currency in which case they have to order it.

Either way you have to queue to do that. I would have been cross. (and where i live the counter staff would have sent you back to the queue without answering anyway. And i live in a country that has not really grasped the concept of queueing)

You don't know what the other 20 people were queueing for, half of them could have been queuing for something that also required a quick opening question. And you don't know that the person on the counter would know the answer off their hat.

It's rude.

Because some of the other people queuing might also have only had a quick question to ask as well?

Why was OP’s burning question more important than theirs?

You were not in the wrong, and every single person who said you are is being absolutely ridiculous. It's perfectly normal for someone with a very brief question that can be answered in 2 seconds to "skip the queue" to ask it. Presumably you then went to the back of the queue so you could actually get your currency. A lot of people here need to give their heads a wobble and get their head out of their own backsides.

You make the decision to either queue or not. You don't unilaterally decide that your question is more important than what the other 20 people already waiting need.

And then there are the “just a quick question” people who then say, “ Thank you for the information, now while I am here can I have ten books of first class stamps, you don’t mind do you first person in the queue!”

Sneaky queue jumping is like the couples who split up at the supermarket checkout to double their chances of getting to the cashier first, or pretend they only have a few items then partner turns up with a trolley full and expects to push in front ! We know who you are.😡

Why is your query more important than anyone else’s?

If they'd said "yes, we do have it" then OP could go to the back of the queue to wait her turn, comfortable in the knowledge she wasn't wasting her time. If they'd said "no, we don't have it", she'd have said "OK thanks," and left to find somewhere else, without having to waste 15 minutes of her life in a queue. And the rest of the queue would have only lost literally 2 seconds.

Exactly. Literally anyone with half a brain would ask something like that before joining the queue. Its absolutely no different to asking at a shop whether its the same queue for returns before you join the back.

As a staff member it’s quite annoying when you are serving someone and another customer butts in to ask a question. Especially at a post office when the transaction can be personal.

Can spot the rude wankers a mile away on this thread, queue jumpers that think everyone but them is stupid 😅

Anyone that has ever worked in retail knows this! It's so rude and entitled.

She wasn't jumping the queue though. Id actually say anyone that would make someone queue for 10 minutes rather than just checking they need to which would take about 4 seconds was the rude wanker.

I wouldn’t see it as an issue, what’s the point of queuing if they don’t have it. I would have just said, I don’t want to skip the queue just want to ask if they have x currency before standing here for 20mins.

It wouldn’t bother me if someone did this at all. But I would see it as doing them a favour.