View Full Version : The etiquette of queues
A strange social custom....
We Brits generally take our queues seriously making sure we conform to the unwritten "rules" and are most indignant when others do not follow them....
I was in a queue today and one chap was in front of me. His mate spotted him from the back of the queue and came up to him. The chap said "Hi Bob, you can go behind me if you like...ha ha ha", letting him in but not being overly generous of course....I thought nothing of it.
However the lady behind this man now had another person in front of her and she didn't like this one bit. She laid into them giving a tirade of abuse. She eventually was silenced when the chap who was in front originally said "But it doesn't matter whether he is in front of me or behind me, he is still in front of YOU!"...he then let his mate go in front of him.
For a split second I thought I was in the dinner queue of my primary school again.....
Ah the primary school dinner queue, I remember it well. Mainly because, by being a school librarian, I had a pass to jump the queue and go straight in. :D
It's an interesting point about the queue you were in though. Letting someone in behind you is a bit like being generous with other people's money. It looks like you're being generous but you're not. You don't get to the front of the queue any slower, but everyone else does.
Alton Towers has large signs next to its ride queues which say, "No queue jumping, and this is what we mean by 'queue jumping':" The definition includes your mates 'letting you in'. I was at Alton Towers a few years ago anda bunch of Chavs (although in the days before they were so called!) were trying to jump about 10 minutes worth of the queue by joining their mates. I had had a very long day and just decided 'oh what the hey' and gave them a right earful. They slunk back to their places (one of them even apologised) and I got a round of applause ... :blush: :D
Good on you. We let yobs get away with far too much these days.
(Oh dear, I sound like my dad...)
I said to one of my children once "we are British, we queue" loudly enough that nearby foreigners heard. :D
I said to one of my children once "we are British, we queue" loudly enough that nearby foreigners heard. :D
Too right. I find the passport control queues at many foreign airports to be some of the most frustrating places on earth. I wonder how waiting in line came to be such a national trait of the British, and more to the point how we're starting to lose it. :erm:
Graham M
20-12-2005, 16:22
I work in a shop and im forever having to suggest to the foreginers that come in "The Queue starts over there"
I work in a shop and im forever having to suggest to the foreginers that come in "The Queue starts over there"
I'm curious, what sort of reaction do you generally get?
Graham M
20-12-2005, 16:25
Either a blank look because they don't speak English or "Oh Sorry" or just a grunt as they walk to the end :)
Either a blank look because they don't speak English or "Oh Sorry" or just a grunt as they walk to the end :)
I was wondering because I'm never sure whether they're being deliberately rude or genuinely confused by a uniquely British custom.
Come to think of it, east Europeans must be good queuers too, what with them having endured the Soviet era and all its shortages. Is it in fact just our Latinate neighbours that have this problem? :D
I was wondering because I'm never sure whether they're being deliberately rude or genuinely confused by a uniquely British custom.
Come to think of it, east Europeans must be good queuers too, what with them having endured the Soviet era and all its shortages. Is it in fact just our Latinate neighbours that have this problem? :D
Having just been to China, I can assure you it is not just the Latinates :disturbd:
Graham M
20-12-2005, 16:32
Germans seem to be the worst for queueing, not sure why :)
If i have a full shopping trolley and i see someone with a couple of things, i normally let them be served first,:)
But queue jumping is a pet hate of mine, especialy when at the bar in a pub, waiting to be served and they serve a person first that just walked up :mad:
No, The French are the WORST when it comes to queuing
If i have a full shopping trolley and i see someone with a couple of things, i normally let them be served first,:)
But queue jumping is a pet hate of mine, especialy when at the bar in a pub, waiting to be served and they serve a person first that just walked up :mad:
That also annoys me, and is the reason why I dont like drinking in the bar type places. The que is often caused because there are half a dozen behind the bar and at least four of them are trying to look busy without actualy serving anyone.
I get my own back when I walk in my local, my bottle is out of the fridge and on the bar by the time I turn around after putting my coat on the peg. I do feel awkward when there are people waiting at the bar before I got in the place.
Aaaaaaaahhhh, your the one :Yikes:
:D
No, The French are the WORST when it comes to queuing
So what happens in France? We complain about foreigners coming here and ignoring our beloved queues - what happens when the queue is in a country whose inhabitants don't believe in queueing? Some sort of scrum?
Macca371
21-12-2005, 20:31
Old people are dreadful with bus queues. They think that their Holland and Barrett bags give them VIP access to the front of queues but whenever you push in front of them it's unacceptable. The thing is, it's not like they have lessons or a job to get to! What are they doing, rushing home for countdown or something?! :D
I thought it was there old age that gave them V.I.P access to the front of a bus queue, and a little respect from younger generations ;)
Macca371
21-12-2005, 20:45
I thought it was there old age that gave them V.I.P access to the front of a bus queue, and a little respect from younger generations ;)
Old people can be quite nasty and just storm in front, saying 'These bloody young 'ens nowadays Mavis, eh?'. Sure I would offer them a place in the queue if it were big and a seat on the bus, but lots have a bad attitude.
Old people can be quite nasty and just storm in front, saying 'These bloody young 'ens nowadays Mavis, eh?'. Sure I would offer them a place in the queue if it were big and a seat on the bus, but lots have a bad attitude.
I think the attitude comes from a sad group of young people who dissrespect, our oap's causing them to think all "young ens" are the same :(
when in reality most are good young respectfull members of society :)
oooooo i'm drifting :notopic:
How many of you actually give up your seats on the bus when an OAP gets on.
dilli-theclaw
22-12-2005, 10:10
How many of you actually give up your seats on the bus when an OAP gets on.I always ask if they want to sit down if there are no spaces left. But the responses I get range from no thanks to **** off. And, it has to be said, usually the oap seems to think I'm taking the wee and has a go at me. Occasionally they do say yes. But MOST don't say thankyou.
How many of you actually give up your seats on the bus when an OAP gets on.
I remember many years ago, getting out of my seat on a full bus because a female pensioner had got on. She looked at me and in a very snooty voice said "And I should think so as well"
I felt like sitting back down and telling her to sod off!
Brits may be quite good at queueing in shops etc. but they sure as hell are not the same when they are behind the wheel of a car. :rolleyes:
How many of you actually give up your seats on the bus when an OAP gets on.
Depends on if there's a spare seat and also (on the Underground) if I'm currently about 15kg of market stock in a bag on my back!
There again there's the classic story (which may, of course, be apocryphal) of the woman who commented, when a man stood up to offer her his seat "You don't have to offer me a seat just because I'm a lady!"
To which the man allegedly replied "Madam, I am not offering you a seat because you are a lady, I am offering you a seat because I am a gentleman!"
:D
However the lady behind this man now had another person in front of her and she didn't like this one bit. She laid into them giving a tirade of abuse. She eventually was silenced when the chap who was in front originally said "But it doesn't matter whether he is in front of me or behind me, he is still in front of YOU!"...he then let his mate go in front of him.
And if I was that lady being spoken to like that, I would of shown just how schooly the dinner line had become and dragged that chap to the back of the line by his ruddy ear. Jesus, the cheek of some people :mad:
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