What is a Rope Line?

The movie theater in my city has red velvet ropes inside, along with red carpet. I guess this is supposed to make us feel like movie stars going to a premiere while herding us and blocking us from illegal entrance.

The rope lines serve two purposes. The ones near the counter and concession stand are there to keep people in separate lines. The ones that run between the lobby and the hall where the movies are played keep customers from entering until they have presented their tickets to the worker guarding the entrance.

My bank has really nice looking rope lines between teller stations. They are covered in green satin, and they make it easy to tell who is next in line.

I like this setup better than the open floor that they used to have. Back then, the next available teller would always say, “I can help someone over here,” and there would be a mad dash of several people from each line to her section.

Ever since they have gotten the rope lines, if a teller becomes available, she just waits there until someone at the end of a line sees that she isn’t with a customer and goes over there. This prevents arguments and confusion among clusters of people.

I was so happy when my pharmacy finally decided to get rope lines to make people stand single file. People had always clustered around, and there was contention about whose turn it was next. I never understood why people would not just stand behind each other.

The pharmacy now has cable up that starts at an “enter here” sign. The cable then takes a ninety degree turn toward the counter. Once a customer is finished, they follow the cable out the other way to the “exit” sign. It is exceedingly simple improvement that makes going to the pharmacy quicker and less stressful.

I have seen a lot of red velvet rope lines at awards show entrances. Maybe they are red so that they match the red carpet.

The poles that support the rope lines are usually gold at these events. Perhaps that is to add to the intimidating royalty effect.

Security is so thick along the outer edge of the rope lines that obsessed fans couldn’t get through even if they managed to get close. Those security guards are extremely big and bulky, and most people would just bounce right off of their chests if they lunged toward them.

Isn't it interesting how well those polyester ropes work at actually keeping people away? I mean, you could walk right over them, but you don't. (Obviously, if you stepped over the president's rope line, the Secret Service would knock you down and you'd probably wind up with broken ribs and on the no-fly list, but it works in banks and stuff, too.)

Guess most of us really are sheep! We go where we're told to go.