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Liverpool Echo

Entertainment

Jess Flaherty

Mum told there is 'no such thing as baby class' after jumping queue

Mumsnet Matalan

A mum faced criticism after "jumping the queue" in an airport with her three-month-old baby.

Queuing is a British staple and something that's often jokingly dubbed part of our culture, with "queue jumpers" regularly judged and treated with scorn. One mum believes it's "fine" to jump the queue "when with an infant", but received backlash when testing this belief at the airport.

The mum was going abroad with her husband and baby to visit family. Wanting to cause as little stress as possible, she secured priority booking and lounge access.

While "queuing nicely" in the luggage queue, which was "quite long", her baby started stirring and another mum, who was in front of her, invited the mum to jump ahead with her. The mum said other people in the queue were "enraged" by this and started "literally shouting" at her.

She took to Mumsnet's popular Am I Being Unreasonable thread to gauge other people’s reactions in a post titled " [AIBU] To think that it is ok to jump the queue when with an infant? ".

The mum explained the situation and then continued: "It enraged some of the people in the queue, literally shouting that it was very out of order and that [there] was no such thing as baby class, and what is wrong with you people etc. Interestingly, every other step in the airport (security, customs, boarding) we were invited nicely by the staff to jump the queue."

The mum's post was met with hundreds of responses from fellow Mumsnet users, keen to share their thoughts. One said: "If offered by the person in front of you, fine. But only to take their place. I'd be very p***ed off if you went to the front of the queue just because you had a baby."

Another said: "It's not jumping the queue if the staff invite you to the front. It's not like you elbowed people out of the way! Frankly when I travel child free I'm so happy not to have to look after kids that I'd not give a hoot if I was last to board."

A third simply commented: "Queue like everyone else!" Another said: "It sounds like it's allowed but I don't see why you should get [special] treatment."

A fifth Mumset user said: "At the priority check in queue - unless asked by a member of staff, then yes it's a bit rude! I'm not sure that it's a rule that you can queue jump either? To board the plane, they normally announce that people who need extra time can pop on up, so that's not rude. Same for security, if a staff member wants to pull you forward, again not rude."

Do you think queue jumping should be allowed if you're with an infant? Let us know in the comments section below

Another said: "If invited to by staff, or there's an announcement that those travelling with babies can go to the front, of course you can. If invited to go in front of someone else, of course you can. Otherwise, of course not. Even if a randomer tells you to."

And another commented: "Some rando suggested you jump the queue and you're feeling shocked at the reaction. Do you get out much? Yes of course move to the front when staff invite you. Feel free to ask those in front if you have a baby or toddler-related emergency. Otherwise, wait."

In a follow up comment, the mum added: "The other mum (also with an infant) told us the staff said it is ok to jump the queue and so told us to follow her. Then the shouting happened, but in the end an airline lady at the check in counter invited us to jump the queue. I was just a little bit taken aback it would trigger some proper shouting from other travellers."

At the time of writing, 3,146 votes had been cast with 78% of Mumsnet users concluding the mum was in the wrong to believe queue jumping is acceptable when with an infant.

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