Use the other door.

There are two doors in front of you. There is a right-hand door. There is also a left-hand door. This is how it is entering or exiting most retail establishments or public buildings.

 

Similar to driving, most people in America will instinctually use the right door. And that’s what you should do. Use the door to the right. Don’t worry about what’s going on at the left door or who’s coming out. Use the door on the right to enter or exit.

 

Grab that handle on the right. Push that bar.

 

Don’t add to gridlock because you’re waiting for the person to your left to hold the door for you. That person is using the door to their right; you should do the same. You can actually enter that building through the right door at the same time as a person is exiting through the door on their right/your left. Both things can happen at once. This is the miracle of physics.

 

And so there is no need to stand expectantly while someone is coming out for that person to hold the door for you. That person can hold the door for the people behind them who are coming out. You, however, are able to enter, entirely unimpeded, through the other door and can hold the door for the person behind you. This marvel of modern engineering is because there are—again—two doors, not one door that people must squeeze through.

 

Look, I know it’s courtesy to hold a door for anyone you see coming. But it’s more efficient and courteous for everyone that you just use the right door rather than stop short with an expectant look on your face. How many times have you been stuck behind a line of people because they won’t use the other door and want to instead have the left door held for them like Sir Walter Raleigh laying his cape down on the mud? How is it courteous to make people wait because you’d rather all squeeze through one door?

 

Door holding is nice but there are not always going to be people to hold that door for you. So if you’re able bodied, and unless you’re some kind of frail monarch, it’s good practice to open that door for yourself. Develop a skill.

 

So use that right door instead of causing a logjam at Wawa. I promise it will open a whole new world of independence for you.