And I believe it was in kindergarten that I first heard the time honored phrase "Save me a spot" - whether it be a seat at the lunch table, a place in line at the swings, or the desired seat in Assembly.
And you know what? Kids still use the phrase, and most importantly, respect the phrase. And so do adults - at least the ones I know. I may be standing in line at the checkout line in the supermarket, and at some point, the husband of the woman in front of me suddenly appears with ten more items (no, its not the express line). Gotta tell ya, I am NOT gonna get bent outta shape about it - heck, the woman is, in effect, the Family Representative, and she Was There Before I Was! I have never seen anyone who would consider that hubbie was cutting - he is merely joining her.
(Too many posters here using "saving a place" and "cutting" interchangeably - and they are NOT the same.....)
And everyone tell the truth now - when you go to a crowded movie, doesnt Mom (or Dad) go to get (for everyone) the best seats available while Dad (or Mom) and the Kids wait on the popcorn line?
Following the "logic" I have read here by so many tightly wound people, when a family goes to the movies, either EVERYone in the family should wait on the popcorn line together, or, if Mom or Dad or Kid goes to the seats, well, they cant save the seats next to them.
Tell me, all you who are opposed to someone saving a place in line for the rest of their family - if you went into the theater, and the only seats left were way off to the side, or two empties right there dead center - as you went to the center seats, someone tells you "I'm saving these for my Wife and Kid" - would you sit in them anyway???
Every summer, the New York Philharmonic plays a free concert on the Great Lawn in Central Park. About 50,000 people attend that concert (in a space a fraction the size of MK, which has a 100,000 capacity). Verrrry early in the morning, hundreds of eager fans go to the Lawn, and place picnic blankets down as close to the stage as allowed. They then go off to work, or school, or wherever. When they come back to the park hours later (maybe 6:30 or so, for an 8 pm show) with their picnic dinner, the blankets are there, undisturbed and vacant. To me, that is the epitome of Polite Society