Reply #16: I hope the police side of the story is untrue, because if it is true, she was in the wrong. [View All]

[Joe Chi Minh]

I think queue-jumping is universally considered a 'no no'. But 15 years is beyond draconian, certainly beyond what any civilised society would impose.

Because you have a family member or friend in another queue, even if they were further back and it was moving more slowly(!), the people behind them would rightly consider it to be queue-jumping, pushy and intolerable.

If the police story is true, then she is letting down other African American people. On the other hand, when you realise the gratuitous hostility African Americans have to suffer from complete strangers, particularly in the South, it's understandable that some of them should be on a short fuse much of the time. But it must sure present problems for society - not least because the high stress levels for all Americans must have been getting closer and closer the explosive charge.