slug line waiting

I have been slugging for more than 20 years but this is the first time I encounter this problem. I moved and I am using a new slug-line. I get there around 5:20 A.M. The first car does not stop until 5:55 or 6 A.M.
Ussualy I am among the 3 first people in line. Since is so early we leave our bags marking our spot in the line and we sit in our cars (parked in front of the line) Close to 5:55 A.M. we leave our cars and move to the line. This is mostly done during the cold months. By this time normmaly there are like 3 or 4 more people in the line. Some of this people are complaining and saying that we are unconsidered and they want to see us standing in the line even we arrive earlier that anybody else. I looked up the rules and etiquette for slug lines and I did not find anything on this particular issue. In the line that I used before the norm was that you waited in your car(after marking your spot with a personal item) and people who chose to stand in the line never had a problem with it.Some people in this slug line are turning aggresive and loud about it. I do not believe it is correct to be harassed into making us do as some of this people want us to do, specially when there are no written rules about it and we are not preventing anybody from doing the same same thing. In my opinion if I am the first to arrive to the slug line it does not make any difference where I wait (besides, I go to the line as soon as 3 or 4 more people are in it), it does not affect in any way whatsoever the rest of the people in the line, it does not matter if they arrived 4th, 5th., or 10th.I am not jumping the line or diminishing anybody's chance for a ride.
I would really appreciate your opinion and how to handle "unfriendly remarks", name calling etc.... Thank you very much,
Alan

see this related discussion:
http://www.slug-lines.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8925

Hi alonsito. The only way to "hold" your place in line is if you left something in your car and asked the person standing behind you to hold your place while you went to your car. The line is defined by people waiting for rides - not items left on the ground.

I have been slugging for about 10 years, as a rider and driver, and I have never seen this crazy thing happen. However, I posted this response to this issue on another conversation a few months ago, so for those of you who still wonder about this issue...

Simple answer: No, it is not appropriate etiquette to "leave a bag... to 'maintain' your place in line, and then wait nearby seated inside a car..." How could you expect anyone to 'respect' your claim to that real estate?! Pretty presumptious! Unless you are handicapped, in a cast and crutches, etc... then I think anyone would recognize the obvious need for a seated wait. God Bless! But laziness? No way!

However, I have seen slugs set their bag down and walk back up the line to converse with a friend for a moment. Short walk/talk, bag owner in attendance, return to line prior to the line moving = No problemo! But dropping off a bag and sitting in your car expecting others standing in line to "respect your spot" - Sorry Charlie.

Next time try this: take a look in the bag to see if there is a lite snack, or interesting book, and comment to other slugs on what you find. Bet that bag owner will not do it again.

Not a bully, but respecting the effort that most slugs put into getting there in time to stand and rightfully claim their spot in line. Weather an issue? Umbrella, muckers, hat, overcoat is the answer. Besides, we're talking about a few minutes standing here...

Hi Raymond. Thank you very much for your opinion on this matter. I really like to have a civilized exchange of opinions on the subject.Unfortunately what I experienced from oneperson in my slug line was much different.As I indicated in one of my previous postings, in the slug line that I used before, waiting in your car (specially in the winter) was the norm and absolutely nobody had any problem with it.(I now that I am not in that line now). Still, I think that the responses have generalized the issue a little bit and presented some situations in which I would agree with them a 100%. I would never leave my bag in the middle of a line, go back to sit in my car, and expect the other people in line to move it or respect my place.Also I would like to add that I do this (leave my bag and wait in my car) only in cold weather and only when I am among the first 3 people in line (the other people do the same thing).Most of the time that I am sitting in my car there is nobody else in the line, and only a short time after the 4th or 5th person arrives I get off my car and go the line.This means that instead of having to wait 25 to 30 minutes in cold weather I have to wait only 10 or 15 minutes. Also I would like to say that I am not preventing anybody else from doing the same thing. The waiting time for the people that arrive later is shorter for the simple reason that at that time drivers start to pick up people from the line.(By that time I am in the line also).For those people that arrive early (4th or 5th in line) I would be glad to let them sit in my car until the bulk of the line starts to form or the first cars stop to pick up. I think life besides rules and ettiquetes (which never apply 100% to every single situation) is about cooperation,understanding and doing what makes sense. It does not make too much sense to me that I am supposed to stand 35 to 40 minutes (most of the time by myself) in freezing weather just to prove a point, that in some of the situations presented in the response postings, make sense, but in other like the one I am explaining here, is highly debatable. I appreciate everybody's responses. I did not care too much for some of the sarcastic commentaries (those never help, if you have a solid argument you don't need them). About the suggestion of looking into others peoples bags (supposedly left in the line to mark a spot),I think that messing with other people's personal property bring up some other rather serious issues that are beyond the scope of the present discussion.
Thank you very much......