Let’s be honest, no one likes waiting in line. But it’s a small price we have to pay to keep things fair and respectful for everyone.

The woman in this Reddit story, however, didn’t seem to care. She brazenly cut in front of a nanny with a small child at CVS, acting as if the usual rules didn’t apply to her. Little did she know, karma was about to catch up with her just outside.

The woman at CVS acted like the rules didn’t apply to her and cut in line without a second thought

Image credits: Mike Mozart / flickr (not the actual photo)

Little did she know, karma was waiting for her just outside

Image credits: Porapak Apichodilok / pexels (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Vitor Paladini / unsplash (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Carmelized

Waiting in lines is something we all dread, but it’s not the wait itself that’s the real problem

Image credits: John Cameron / unsplash (not the actual photo)

Hating lines is practically a universal experience. After all, who actually enjoys standing around with nothing to do? But research suggests it’s not the wait itself that bothers us; it’s just about everything else that comes with it.

What really frustrates us is getting bored, realizing the line is taking longer than expected, and, most of all, when someone jumps ahead.

The first one might seem obvious. Isn’t standing in line supposed to be inherently dull? Well, not exactly. If we’re distracted or have something to occupy us, we hardly notice the time passing. Take 20th-century New York, for instance, when people started grumbling about elevator delays in the new skyscrapers. The solution wasn’t more elevators; it was mirrors. After they were installed, people started checking their appearance or stealing glances at those around them during the wait, and the complaints quickly disappeared.

Then, there’s the stress of realizing a line is much longer than expected. Depending on the circumstances, it can be considered torturous. Imagine you’re at the airport, inching through a long security line with boarding about to close. Every minute feels like an eternity, and that anxiety is anything but minor.

Interestingly, we’re often okay with long waits if there’s something worthwhile at the end. “Routine queues bother us, but the idea of a celebratory queue doesn’t,” explains Richard Larson, a professor at MIT who studies queuing theory, also known as Dr. Queue. “To queue up at an Apple Store, or for tickets to a rock concert, is almost a celebratory thing—you can brag about it. They are not negative queues.”

But when someone cuts in front of us, that’s when patience truly runs thin. Studies show we don’t just want efficiency in lines; we want fairness. So when we see a waiter bring someone their food before us, even if they ordered later, or watch someone jump ahead like the woman in this Reddit story, our sense of justice kicks in. But how should we cope? Perhaps we can take a cue from the nanny.

Commenters couldn’t help but celebrate the satisfying dose of petty revenge

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