I joined a line without knowing what it was for and became the information desk

There was a line in the courthouse lobby, so I joined it.

I had arrived early to renew a document at an office upstairs. The lobby contained three signs, two security stations and one long row of people. The line looked official. I treated that as sufficient research.

After five minutes, a woman stepped in behind me and asked, “Is this for the records office?”

I said, “I think so.”

That was my first mistake. I did not think so. I had no information at all.

Two more people joined. A man near the back asked whether the line moved quickly. The woman behind me answered, “He said it’s for records,” and pointed at me.

I had become a source.

I turned to the person ahead and asked what everyone was waiting for. He said, “Security.”

That made sense until a security guard walked past the entire line and opened a side door for people with appointments. Half the group moved. The other half stayed. Nobody knew whether this was progress or a separate event.

The woman behind me asked, “Do we need an appointment?”

I said, “Apparently?”

My authority was growing while my punctuation weakened.

Eventually an employee came over and announced that the line was for marriage licenses. The records office was upstairs and did not have a line.

I stepped out immediately. The woman stared at me.

“I’m not getting married,” I said, which answered a question she had not asked.

Three people followed me toward the elevators because I had been at the front and therefore still looked intentional. I had to stop and explain that I was no longer leading anything.

Upstairs, my errand took six minutes. I had spent fifteen minutes in a wedding-related queue because standing behind strangers felt easier than reading the building directory.

What is the polite way to verify a mystery line before joining it? Ask the last person, find an employee or read every sign first? And when someone mistakes you for an informed person, how quickly must you disclose that your qualifications consist entirely of arriving earlier?