In Turkey, there have been x-ray machines and metal detector doors at the entrances of every shopping mall since even before 9/11. And still we get more than a fair share of line cutters.

On that particular afternoon, at a very non-specific hour, with no lines whatsoever, I walked toward one of these machines following the people who had just walked in briskly before me. The machine was a small model like this one with a short conveyor belt and a non-moving part at the beginning:

Just as I was putting down my purse and stepping towards the door two steps away, some self-important young nobody dived in, plopped her small purse right in front of mine, and rushed in through the door.

With a speed that is so unlike me, which still amazes me today, I picked up her purse as she was walking through, and put it back on the non-moving part. I walked in, picked up my purse and walked on without a glance at the disrespectful adult-shaped brat waiting for hers.

I am glad that she probably had to stand there and lost a few more very, very precious seconds of her time as she figured out what happened, walked back out, put her purse back on the conveyor and walked in through the metal detector door again.