The Queue Violator

I had an interesting etiquette encounter a couple of days ago. I rolled up at a supermarket in Colombo 07 where the cafe is upstairs. Considering I am one of those people who is always hungry, I lost no time in making my way up the stairs and took a peek at what was available.
There were two completely uninterested staff supposedly attending to patrons and one chef who was capably avoiding eye contact while getting about his business of preparing Mongolian rice. I waited patiently for what seemed like eons – just for the sake of a pastry and by this time a man had sauntered in and was restlessly hanging around behind me.

The cashier cum waitress finished the bill she did up for the customer before me and stepped aside to grab something when this man seized the opportunity, followed her to the food counter and started telling her what he wanted.

I watched amused for a moment to see whether either the cashier or the man would pay heed to the fact that I was actually in line to be served.
Neither of them seemed in the least bothered by me. So I continued my amused expression and told the man – ‘I am in the queue before you’. Poor chap, he did not expect to be apprehended by a fellow patron, so he started justifying his presence and amicably told me that he would pay later. He then accepted the plate with a short eat given by the clueless waitress cum cashier and repeated himself.
He now had two plates with him, walked towards the cashier’s counter and laid down one plate on a side and told the cashier girl who had now resumed duties at the till that he would pay for both later.

She turned to take my order and in Sinhala I asked her very politely whether she is aware that those who come first need to be served first. She gave me a sheepish look and remained silent. I had no intention of chastising her any further – so I did not.
The man took a seat and kept a sharp eye on me. I sat at a table quite close to him hoping he would strike up a conversation, alas, he did not.
When I was leaving, I gave him a sharp look with a smug expression. He smiled from the corner of his mouth, looked sheepish but said nothing.

In his case, he knew jolly well that I was in the queue before him, but even if he did not, the right thing would have been to apologise to me and to turn to the waitress and inform her that he would await his turn.
He did neither – I only hope that this is the last time he tries that trick.