getting in line

you enter the store
to get in line.
and there is one
man standing about
twenty feet away from
the one register, so
you ask him, excuse
me, but are you in
line, he looks at
you, insulted and says
yes with a sniff.
he folds his arms
across his chest and
plants himself harder
into the linoleum floor.
well, what's with
the twenty feet
gap between you and
the counter, you
want to say. but
you don't want to die
over something
like this, and so
you get behind him.
and say nothing.