Many years ago we were going down to Malaysia on the train and there is a border crossing where you actually get out of the train and you get stamped out of Thailand and you walk a few meters and you get stamped into Malaysia and then you get back on the train and you go to Penang.
So many years ago we got off the train and we were standing in this massive kind of line where everybody is bunched together going up to these couple of windows. There was a very short man who was writing his immigration paper on a window that was shut. There wasn't anyone there but it was right next to the open windows and most everybody was kind of frustrated. The short man was writing his form there and a very big guy right in front of me, as the crowd was moving this big guy accidently bumps the little guy, as he is getting close to the window, the big guy bumps the little guy. The little guy turned around and swore his head off at the big guy.
Now I'm already a meditation teacher at that time, I'm not that 19 year old that might have hit somebody if they did that to me, but I am amazed that this little guy wants to swear his head off at this big guy because he got bumped. The big guy was - you could see it in his face - he was so bewildered. He was obviously not a type of guy I was when I was 19. He was totally bewildered and everybody just said, "Oh don't worry about that guy, don't worry, don't worry." They didn't want to see a fight. "Don't worry, he is having a bad day." The little guy kept grumbling and the big guy wasn't too sure what to do, should he just hit him once? At any rate it was total confusion for this big guy but he didn't do anything and accepted that the little guy was having a problem today.
I use that story because you have to be careful when and who you say, "Hey, you should not butt in line here." Because if I was the little guy and that big guy butts into the line, I'm not going to swear at him. I'm going to respect the fact that he is bigger than me and could possibly just blow me over with his breath or something. So you do have to be careful. At times though, yes, it is quite reasonable. If you think somebody butt in line by mistake, you can say "Excuse me sir, the line is over here." And that happens regularly, you see that often and that's no problem.
When you think the person will be reasonable and will understand that's no problem. If you have a feeling that maybe that person is a bit too angry, let them butt in line today. Don't sweat it. Don't risk your life on such a small issue. Save it for something bigger. A couple of days ago I was talking about standing up for things and possibly risking our lives. Don't waste your energy trying to fix something that's just too insignificant like someone butting in line. Be cautious on little things like this. Something bigger, yes, it's reasonable, yes. But consider is it worth it on a particular day with that particular person?
The taxi driver story, the taxi driver who wants too much money. What are you going to do? How much are you going to pay him? It depends. Are they bigger than you? Are some Thai friends standing close by who also look like they might thump you if you don't pay the driver the right money? You go ahead and pay, what's a few Baht? Or, you get upset, "No, that's not the right price, bla bla bla." You might get yourself into trouble. As a tourist that's one position. As someone like me, who speaks good Thai and knows the right price, if I say it all to them in Thai. They might giggle and laugh, and they might take the fifty Baht. Even if their friends are close by, it won't stop me from saying it in Thai because I know the Thais will do that. They will respect me if I speak in Thai. If I am a Western tourist who just wants to argue in English, they will pretend they can't understand you even if they do understand you, right?
So you know, people cutting in line is such a small selfish behavior. Sometimes don't worry, sometimes you can say, "Oh excuse me the line is back here." But, what if they don't move? You thought they were reasonable, but they ignore you. You know what it's like, you can't do it a second time, can you? Because other people are standing around and have seen all what's happened and they are not helping you one bit, right? So are you going to get angry? Or can you open your heart to somebody who actually butts in line, is told "please move" and they still ignore you. Isn't that an even worse mental state that they have? Can you open your heart for their very poor mental state that day? That's your practice. That's the real test for your practice.