Confusing NYC | On Line vs In Line – Where Do You Stand?

It's time for another new series here on OpenLetter2NYC! Ever since I made the move to the city from the Greater Boston Area, I've found myself puzzled by certain NYC things. I never expected a huge cultural shift, but life here is quite different than what I was used to experiencing on the daily. Confusing NYC will discuss those things, big and small, that I just don't get about NYC. Please feel free to join in with your thoughts!

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You're at a store, ready to purchase your items. You head to the cash register, but you have to wait. Where do you stand? That is the question. 

I've always stood in line, but suddenly my fellow shoppers are asking, "Are you on line?" Well, no, I'm not online. I'm shopping here, not surfing the web. And then it hit me – the cultural divide. One simple word change and my mind is blown. In fact, all that's different is one letter, but that one little letter causes a divide. 

At the end of the Starbucks line, where you'll find me too often.

For the past two years now, I've wondered why. Why do New Yorkers use the phrase on line to signify when they are standing in a line? Perhaps there is historical significance. To me, the phrase "on line" means that one is physically standing on a line. Today, the majority of locales where one must wait his turn do not have a line on the ground on which we must stand. Every once in a while, I'll spot such a line, or arrows designating where to stand, but that is rare. And so, there is no physical line.  

The line is in fact our bodies. We form the line, standing behind one another in a sometimes personal bubble-invading manner. If I called that standing on line, I would have to be standing on a fellow human who has formed the line, and I don't think that would pan out too well. Instead, I am standing in the line we formed together. It's a magical thing. 

I know this seems petty, to argue between in and on. But to me it's fascinating. A single letter change can confuse tourists and cause a debate about who got there first, and who is to be served next. Despite my love for New York, I plan on using my personal preference of in line in perpetuity, but I want to know – where do you stand? Please tell me in the comments if you use the phrase on line or in line, and where you're from.