Any traveler knows airport lines are miserable, but there’s always that one person who thinks the rules don’t apply to them.

This traveler was waiting patiently in a painfully long check-in line at a Tokyo airport when another passenger thought he should get access to the front of the queue. What starts as an obvious attempt to cut the line quickly turns into a confrontation that leaves everyone in the line feeling uncomfortable and irritated.

You will enjoy this mix of secondhand embarrassment, public karma, and the satisfying ending that comes when an entitled bully finally got his comeuppance. Read the full story below.

Dude tried to cut 40 people at the airport, then tried to intimidate us. Got justice.

I was headed back home from Japan to Washington, and the line for checked luggage at the Tokyo airport was groan-inducingly long.

I got there well before the flight and still ended up waiting 20–30 minutes. As I slowly got closer to the counter, several people walked up, realized what was going on, then dejectedly walked to the back of the line.

And then there was our hero.

This younger Eastern European dude, probably in his early 20s, walked up, saw the line, then started trying to have a conversation with the guy behind me.

He was very clearly doing the “Hey, let’s be buddies so I can cut in line” thing, but the guy behind me wasn’t having it. Eventually, he told our young friend, “Hey man, you have to go to the back of the line.”

The bully started getting confrontational.

Things took a turn, and the main character went from uncharming but chummy to telling my line comrade to “back off.”

He also threw in some “What are you going to do about it?” and got in the guy’s face, puffing out his chest and everything.

Now, mind you, this was at like noon in a Japanese airport, in a place where everyone had been incredibly respectful and deferential, so this really stood out.

I had also turned around and told the guy to get to the back of the line, and him puffing his chest out was less effective since I’m 6’4″.

Neither the guy behind me nor I was going to take his bait and get into a scuffle with him, and it was just super odd behavior.

And he got exactly what he deserved.

So, we waited for the next time one of the airline employees came by, told them what was going on, and the 10 other people in line around us corroborated our story.

She removed him and told him he’d have to take another flight.

Hilariously, this was a Hawaiian Airlines flight, and it was the only one that day, so I assume he had to catch a flight the next day.

I still think about him. I can’t really fathom what he thought was going to happen. I wonder if he goes through life having interactions like that and just thinking, “Man, the world is so unfair to me.”

It was such a strange interaction with an adult bully.

The whole line deserves applause for standing up to that bully. As someone who’s pretty non-confrontational myself, I’d absolutely appreciate people backing me up if someone tried to intimidate me just to cut to the front of the line. Everyone had been waiting for hours, and nobody deserves special treatment, no matter how loud or aggressive they are.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a thrift store worker who is absolutely exhausted by having to thwart theft attempts until after closing.

Let’s read the thoughts of other people in the comments section.

This one commends the people.

Here’s a possibility.

Another user chimes in.

This makes sense.

And here’s a hilarious retort.

Patience is a virtue, and a lack thereof can land you on the next flight.