The Strange Behavior of Ferry Commuters

What a strange little behavior among the people I ride the ferry with. This morning I decided that instead of getting into line and watching people cut up the exit, I would walk up the exit at a pace matched to the line. I heard the cutters backing up behind me and even heard a woman barely whisper the word "excuse me". When I ignored her, she sort of slid past me and I said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm a part of this line," pointing to the people slowly boarding the boat. She looked back at me but didn't say anything. Incredibly, as I was saying it, three other people pushed past both of us! Then a small woman, probably in her late 50s or early 60s, said to me in a very sweet voice and with a smile, "You're blocking the line." "Oh, well, you see," I said, "I'm a part of this line here." She sprang to attention when I said that and responded, "So am I!" She started walking that pace, too.

What's really amazing about this experiment is that, the people in line, for whom I was making this scene, said nothing. I don't even think many of them looked my way. Just as when I tried to do something like this last time, one woman, one woman whispered, nodded, and smiled at me--as if she didn't want the rest of the party to know she approved of my dissent.