In this, my final issue of Student Life as senior Forum editor, I think it’s about time I take a stand on an issue very near and dear to my heart: lines.

I don’t enjoy physically standing and waiting around to reach whatever the final destination of said line may be, but I do enjoy the principle behind it: order. Nothing irritates me more than watching someone slink their way into the middle of a line, hoping that nobody notices while forever branding themselves in my brain as a “CHEATER.” Conversely, nothing makes me happier than steadily, patiently moving one pace forward at a time, knowing that law and order has been preserved, even just for a moment.

To all those haphazard line-enterers at Whispers Cafe, I’m looking at you. I see you standing there, two feet away from the next person in front of you in line, shuffling forward at a glacial pace while staring at your phone. Here, the issue is twofold: not only does it make it more confusing for the hardworking baristas and cashiers behind the counter who are trying to figure out who the next person they need to pay attention to is, but it makes it hard for newcomers to lines to figure out where to stand. I would never want to become one of the aforementioned line-cutters myself, but who knows? With the way people have been clustering around one pillar these days, I might just (accidentally) do it.

I’ve already said my piece about slow walkers at Washington University, an issue that literally goes hand in hand with the companion disorder of people being glued to their iPhones. Not only is excessive phone usage dangerous, but it also causes a serious logjam when it comes to ordering on the spot. If you just had to spend the last 10 minutes in line—and you were probably texting your friends the entire time to complain about how you had to wait in the first place—could you not have at least have glanced at the display case or menu before making it all the way up to the register? This is the whole reason the line forms in the first place.

To me, this is an issue of altruism: People just don’t care about their fellow coffee drinkers. If every person followed the questionably legitimate rules of standing in line, the whole process would move along a LOT quicker. We all know waiting seems to pass by faster when we have something to occupy our time, but try to take a break from your phone for a couple minutes to think about your day or plan out your next couple of hours. Chances are it’s better than refreshing Twitter or Facebook for the 12th time that day. Standing up straight and paying attention benefits you by cutting down on line times, and it also helps out the people around you and the people working behind the counter—so, what’s the downside?

At this point in our academic careers, most of us are at least over the age of 18, so I’m serious when I say that we’re all adults here. We shouldn’t need guidelines for where to stand anymore—and, at the very least, we should have moved past the childish act of cutting. If I have to wait, you should have to wait, too. So, please, just do your part.