Airports are different.

No they aren't! (But, yes, people with small children get exemptions...unless the children are old enough to be told to move to the right)

Which generally isn't time-consuming till you're at an ADA event or something.

::snerk::

How wide do they make the escalators on the East Coast? Most of the ones here really aren't wide enough to comfortably accommodate one set of adults moving past another to the side.

Adding to my list of things that make me a crappy person, the sound of a child whining or crying sets my teeth on edge, unless the child belongs to me in some way. Like, Noah or my niece or someone like that crying has no affect other than nurturing said child.

Stranger kids? I have to get as far away from the crying as possible.

I, personally, use race as the last descriptor

I've been told "Oh, I don't even notice people's race."

Well, that's very nice. I do, though. And I don't attach a value judgment to noticing or not--it's what happens next that counts.

It's like saying I didn't notice if they were male or female. Or some other clear physical distinction. I'm all "Well, she's kinda light skinned..."

As for black women checking black women--I have been on the receiving end of some very cold stares from women with short natural hair--at least while mine was blonde. Cold enough that my sister asked if I had any previous history with the complete stranger we were just passing.

Airports are different because so many people have luggage and/or kids -- airport escalators are almost never wide enough to pass someone with luggage, IME.

In most other places, the guy who pushes ahead gets served, while the other people stew and glare.

My favorite line-cutter was at Hartsfield airport. This guy tried to cut ahead of a bunch of us on the security checkpoint line. It was 5 am, hardly any screeners were working yet and the line just wasn't moving. So he tried to do that slow inching up, clearly hoping that no one would notice.

The kicker was that the guy was about 6'7". I pointed out to him that men who are 6'7" really don't blend into the crowd well enough to be successful line cutters.

The periodic table is just a theory (satire)

You are all making me paranoid that the next time I go anywhere with anyone of you, someone will shove me out of the way because I'm not moving fast enough.

Here in the South, it's generally too hot to get worked up about these things.

airport escalators are almost never wide enough to pass someone with luggage, IME.

Oh I mean on moving sidewalks. Those are wide enough generally. (unless you've got the little kids and everybody's luggage!)