The Status Game of the Office

Is it that we are constantly playing a status game and altering tactics? Or is it that we're playing multiple status games simultaneously. We orient our energies towards that which we feel is most advantageous to us. I get really irritated when I'm waiting in line to the post office or at the airport, either going through the TSA line or sitting in my seat. Is there a status element to it? Well, I wouldn't know for sure, but I would speculate that it's partly about that.