Something that is absolutely doing my head in is people letting other people into queues at the expense of the people behind who have been queuing for ages.
Now, if this were happening in a shop queue, it would be frowned upon, but it seems to be acceptable in other situations. That is the annoying thing; it's all so inconsistent, but the consequence is the same- it holds everyone else up.
For example, at the last stop on a busy commuter train. It's standing room only, but instead of the standing people getting off and clearing the aisle so everyone else can get up and disembark, they start letting people out of seats to get off in front of them. This clogs things up and causes a backlog, not only for the people standing up behind them, but also for the other seated people who are waiting to stand up. Just let the aisle clear FFS. So annoying!
And the other situation this kind of thing is acceptable is in traffic queues. When there's a long queue at traffic lights or road works, people approaching from side roads get let in by some do-gooder as soon as traffic starts to move, even though the side road person might only have been waiting a couple of minutes and everyone else behind has been sat there for about an hour. It's even more frustrating when the side road is just before the traffic lights and you miss the lights because 4 or 5 cars have all been let out in front (when they've only just turned up). They and the person letting them out all make the lights, but you don't. It causes a backlog.
The thing is that it is not considered to be acceptable when there is a lane closure and people filter in before the lane closes. Then people get all territorial and don't want to let people in. Why? Because it causes a backlog and is unfair on those that have been waiting. This is the same effect as the above two scenarios, but they seem to be perfectly acceptable.
There is a point on a bridge near where I live where the right hand lane merges with the middle lane, and there is a slip road joining the left hand lane. It's usually standing traffic in peak times, and people have been queuing for several miles by the time they reach this point, but people from the slip road on the left get let in straight away, whereas the people in the right hand lane merging with the middle lane are treated totally differently. No-one lets them in, even though the lane has to merge. It's actually quicker to come off at the junction and come back on using the slip road than it is to queue between the exit and the slip road, because you get let in so quickly, as if people who actually have right of way take second priority to those who are supposed to be giving way.
At the risk of sounding like Spock, it's illogical.
I feel like finding such do-gooders, following them into a shop, getting in the queue ahead of them and waiving everyone in as soon as they pick up what they are buying. See how they feel then!
Sorry for the rant, but I am intensely annoyed as per the thread title.
