Am I invisible?

This happens far too often.

I'm standing in line, at the bookstore or grocery store or whatever, waiting to pay. Someone cozies up to the counter in front of me as if she doesn't even see me. Usually I don't bother saying anything because I don't feel like wasting a minute in an argument about who was first to save thirty seconds of waiting behind someone else.

One time I was at the Nice airport, waiting for a flight to Frankfurt. My aunt, who lives in France, was waiting in line with me. A man cut in front of us at the ticket counter. I think he actually didn't see us. Not only did I not feel like saying anything, my French was rather limited. My aunt (a Catholic nun), on the other hand, took him to task, using polite but forceful words:

"Excuse me, Mister. Did you not see us here standing in line? We're standing right here."

He quickly realized his error and apologized.

The other day at the local Au Bon Pain, a more aggressive line-cutting incident occurred. The cashier was not at the cash register, so I waited there for him to return to his station. As soon as he did, I thought he'd ring me up. Instead, a woman rushed toward the counter, practically scooting me aside so she'd be first in line. I'm pretty sure she did see me, because she physically wedged herself between me and the counter.

While I was gaping in disbelief, the cashier started ringing her up. Then she mumbled something incoherent to the cashier. There was a language problem; apparently she was Japanese and only spoke a few words of English. After a while it was revealed that she hadn't picked out a beverage and wasn't ready to pay, despite being in too much of a hurry to wait behind someone else in line.

Then, instead of ringing me up while waiting for her to get a drink, the cashier just waited there for her to get something and come back. She didn't even look apologetic.

Now in other cases, I would say maybe I'm just invisible to other people, or other people are just not as attentive as they should be. In the case at the Au Bon Pain, I think the line cutter made an active effort to be a social freak. That, or she, like quite a few other people I unfortunately know, sincerely believes she is more important than everybody else.