I was standing in line for a concert over the weekend. Due to the physical limitations of the area, the line was entirely on the opposite side of the street from the venue, and a little further down the block. A group of people came running from somewhere near the end of the line (which most people couldn't see from where they were, and which no one was really paying attention to, heading directly toward the venue. Everyone in line immediately wanted to know what was happening and whether these people were disobeying the social norms of the line and trying to gain some kind of advantage.
While waiting in line for concerts, many people are with friends already, or they form temporary friendships to pass the time. As a result, the overall order of the line was maintained even though many people also ran toward the venue to investigate - only one person from each group needed to go.
The incident turned out to have absolutely nothing to do with the order of the line, but instead with its length (an abutting property owner took exception to our presence on "their" sidewalk), and the people from the rear of the line resumed their original place as soon as they received guidance from venue staff. But without the social bonds formed in the context of the long wait before the concert (through which groups could send one representative to figure out what had happened while the rest stayed in place and allowed the scout to return to her previous position), the entire line could have been destabilized.
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