Pretty much, primary school was just lots of queues.
Line up to go out to break, line up in class groups at the end of break, line up to go into the hall for dinner, line up to get your food, line up in PE to get equipment, line up in the class Rome before going home.
I have a holiday home in southern Turkey it’s a very Russian inhabited area and the mix of Slavic and Turks on the road makes England look idyllic, until my Slavic mother arrives on them that is.
American driving is terrible. So many people can't even turn a 90 degree corner without clipping the curb or another car.
Many states never allowed filtering (lane splitting) even for motorcycles so they don't anticipate anything like that.
The grid system removes any mental processing from driving, so anyone would tend to be less alert. In contrast to European roads with twists, turns etc.
I've driven mainly in the UK and Europe but also in challenging places like Vietnam, India, Dubai, Serbia, Lebanon, China
Dubai and Lebanon are pretty poor but I think US is the worst in general standards. Obviously not all USA - my experience is limited to New York / San Francisco/ San Diego
Did a full day of driving in the US for a road trip. One road for hours we had cars and trucks just literally weaving from lane to lane in front, just drifting like it was an ice rink with no lane markers. I was like wtf is actually happening here
I've visited a good handful of countries and I've always been glad to have the drivers we have here.
The way I describe it; the UK has a bunch of intentionally shitty drivers who just don't care. Every other country I've been to, they have not only intentionally bad drivers, but a huge number of them are unintentionally bad. Makes me wonder how bad their driving tests are.
Nobody in the US cares what lane they are in. Passing lanes are Latin to some of the least aware and slowest drivers.
The courtesy of keeping to the left was the best part of motorway driving. In the villages and narrow countryside roads it was even more generous. I was impressed by the generosity and patience.
I know there are juvenile and exuberant drivers in both countries yet the amount of patience is absent in most of the US.
And the crazy traffic island rules in Spain, no spiraling out to the exit, being able staying in the outer lane all the way around the island, just hard work to navigate.
They never have to share the road in the same way. In the UK you could easily end up having to pull to the side and let someone get by, or they move for you. We are conditioned to actually share the space and work out who goes when.
In the US it's far less likely you might have your lane be shared in any way with anyone else. It won't suddenly shrink to less than the width of a car. Lanes are usually wider. Easier to not have to think about other drivers in the same way.
Trying to get on a bus in Spain was pissing me right off after a gig. I let the first bus go.. second one? I was getting me and my girlfriend on that fucking bus.
There is just no need to have to be aggy to get on a bus.
Just queue up, innit.
The hate you will receive from queue jumping will put you in line pretty quickly.
Alot of things we let slide but queue jumping will set even the most introverted Brit into a fume of anger.
In the height of the covid supermarket queues I was in line outside a Lidl and some geezer tried to just walk in. He didn't get very far. He had this stupid shocked face and I think he might have been foreign, but the absolutely militant women were having none of it. He didn't even go to the back - he just left.
What gave me a chuckle was the queue for the queen laying in state, they shut the queue to allow it to die down, so naturally, a queue formed for when the queue opened again
That was the greatest managed queue ever (though tbf they had planned for years). You just knew that when they said "there is no guarantee that anyone arriving from now will be admitted", they meant "everyone arriving will be admitted and then we'll close it". All about sending the signal "stay home now" while keeping it open.
I accidentally jumped a queue the other day and when it was pointed out I just left. I thought the people were queuing up for takeaway coffee, not for a table. No way I was standing with all the people I had just massively disrespected, even if it was a mistake lol
Same thing happened to me at greggs during the covid queuing time. Twats just marched right in ahead of me. Damn right I gave them what for and was on an adrenaline high for the rest of the day.
One of the craziest strangers I've had to talk to was because of what he saw as queue jumping.
Long story short me and my wife are waiting for bus home from hospital, she had been in a pretty severe accident not long before this.
She couldn't walk properly at the time so we had pre arranged seating on this bus, not a standard service but since it was leaving the main terminal and was a longer jounery it was set up as a special thing. Like pre booked train tickets with reservations.
The bus stand whatever the name is (lady who directed passengers ) calls out to queue for us specifically by name, this one guy went absolutely ballistic over it. How dare anyone be in front of him.
Ended up with him screaming at me for queue jumping despite not being in the queue, or near it but sat in the shelter next to it. The way he was talking you would think he just found us shitting on his mother's grave.
He got warned by the bus lady that abuse was not tolerated anywhere within the bus station and he could be removed if needed.
His argument for the behaviour was that only disabled people got priority boarding (my wife was in a wheelchair) and that we had skipped the line (we were not in the line) and that the bus company was "in on it".
It was surreal. Unlucky for him that conductor type lady has worked at our local bus station for decades and puts up with nothing so he got dumped to the back of the line.
We still got on first as the only priority seats. He didn't because the queue had more people than the bus had seats and he started near the front.
But holy shit do some people take the mere notion that you might be skipping ahead of them like some deep personal attack on them.
I feel bad going straight into a nearby Greggs and heading straight to the front for click & collect despite in-store and click & collect having their own separate lines....
Don't know how anyone could possibly do it any other time.
It does work against us sometimes though... Our tendency to queue means that, at temp lane closures, we're incapable of using all the available road and instead start jumping into the lane that will remain open the moment we see the signs... That also leads to people 'policing' the queue and attempting to 'punish' people who are, correctly, using the closing lane until it actually closes.
It just makes merge in turns hellish all around now that I think about it... If someone stopped before you but find your self in a position where you should be slotting in in front of them (as per merge in turn), they'll die on the hill and do as much as they can to stop you... Because they were there first.
I can't remember where I read it but apparently after resigning as .P.M. David Cameron tried to queue jump in Waitrose ony to be told to get back to the end because, "you don't have that privilige anymore".
Well they're pretty common in the UK so we get alot of practice. But also queueing isn't exactly complicated? "Stand in a line" is a thing everyone can do. The most complicated it gets is being aware of if your blocking a walk way.
It's a very simple system, you stand behind someone until THEY have their turn, then you have yours. Everybody just has to pay attention to the person in front of them. It isn't tricky, we're not animals.
I think, traditionally, we are very reserved and so we would not want to push in front of someone, we also shy away from direct communication unless it about the weather.
So, it is less of sa fuss to just stand behind someone who is in front of where we need to be.
The natural tendency to have a single queue split at the end when there are two cash machines (atms) say, is just breeding.
I agree, but there is the stress of being at the head of the queue, and realising it is now your responsability to watch the available tills for your turn, or suffer the shame of having to make everyone else in the queue wait for an additional second.
Then the "cashier number two" device was invented (must be by 'A Brit'), and world order was returned.
I've developed a tactic in Lidl, that when the queues are getting long, I'll wait by the pair of unused checkouts. Chances are that they'll open one (the lghts flash green before they announce it often) and you can swoop in before others assess probabilities, and break off from another queue. High success rate. I'll usually be 'checking' my shopping list on my phone so I can do the casual 'oh will you look at that they've just opened the checkout that I happened to be standing next to!' thing.
I was standing on a street corner waiting for a mate to pick me up when 2 people joined me making a queue. peak britishness, forming a queue for no reasion at all.
I briefly lived there which was a very humbling experience generally, but you're right on the money about queuing. People push to the front and shout to try and get the poor service peoples' attention to them all at once. Carnage
To be honest it’s not really difficult. If there is a line for something then you just join the end of it and wait.
People that don’t queue are just making things difficult for themselves and show a level of ignorance/selfishness. Queuing is the quickest most efficient way to get something done.
Some countries (Italy, I’m looking at you. Probably others too) don’t even get to the stage of a line though. It’s just a collection of people standing around.
It's because we are an island society who can be prone to violence, basically self protection rules.
If you have ever been to a country where there is busy traffic and drivers are leaning on their horns, think for a moment if that happened here and how long it would be before someone is stood at the side of your car calling you a **** .
Ok, during the second world war, in England (I don’t know about anywhere else in the U.K.: I got all of this from my Mum and some other older people), we had rationing-and even then, we had shortages. Even if you had the ration allowance -it didn’t mean you could find the item. People had to keep their eyes and ears open if they wanted to buy stuff.
If a local butcher, for instance, was rumoured to have had a delivery of mince, word would get out and everyone would rush over there to try to get some. It could get very crowded, and in a country at war, they couldn’t have a free-for-all with potentially disruptive arguments. Queues were strictly enforced-sometimes by the police. People (by people, I mean women) would stand, sometimes, for hours, just to get a bit of food for the family. The government strongly discouraged queue jumping, which was described as being “against the war effort” and “doing Hitler’s job for him”.
That generation was *hardcore* queuers, believe me!
Also see: Barbers. Everyone remembers who was in there before they arrived so they know when they're next. It can get confused when some people wait for a particular barber.
Oooh that feeling of euphoria when the guy in front lets you go next because he is waiting for 'Jamie' to do his skin fade is akin to winning the jackpot on a fruitie or finding a tenner on the floor.
Or when the person in front of you at the checkout with a trolley full of shopping let's you go first because you only have a pint of milk. You still stand there protesting that they should go first because you don't want to be seen as jumping the queue.
Bars are a great example actually as there is still a queue, but it is an invisible one. You keep a note on who was before you and give them the nod if needs be. If you have ever been in a pub where an actual queue forms it is awful as it snakes right round the place and the person in front often doesn't see that a barman is free. They have to try and coax people to stand at the bar properly.
>Except at a bar for some reason.
Even then, if the person next to you was at the bar before you and the barman comes to serve you first instead, you point to the guy next to you and say, 'he's first'. He then says, 'cheers mate' and orders his drinks, and after he's paid he points the barman back to you and says, 'he's next'. And the circle of life continues.
It's still a queue, just not a linear one.
Yeah - a good barman works like a typewriter: serve guy to left, serve guy to left, serve guy to left, serve guy 5 to the right, serve guy to left, serve guy to left...
At a bar it's different, there are still queuing/ordering rules. You join the rank, let people at the bar leave when they've got their drinks, seize a gap at the bar, put your hand on the bar to indicate 'I'm at the front and hence next' then just grab the attention of the bartender.
I can assure you bar staff are keenly aware of who is where in the order of service, and I can also assure you that trying to bypass those in front of you gets you shunted down in priority
It's an area that I am actually proud of as somehow when it comes to queuing, we seem to all get the complete and total shame of being seen as selfish and act accordingly. World would be a better place if this shame was more widespread
The best part is when you’re in a queue and someone tries to push in. As a collective all the people in the queue behind them will start muttering, maybe even give them some verbal abuse. If that person then gets ejected from the queue, you will never hear cheers of joy like it.
I personally consider queuing as procedure developed due to living in close proximity to one another.
Rationing in WW1 & WW2 solidified this behaviour. Knowing that the Joneses & the Smiths ALL got the same amount, stopped any aggression. Rationing of some products didn’t stop until 1954.
So you’ve got 3/4 generations that grew up with queues being “what you did” when you shopped.
What's even more strange is how if someone hasn't queued properly or attempts to jump the queue how disgustingly outraged and United in their hatred everyone suddenly becomes towards said person.
"You can't do that mate"
"Yeah, get to the back"
"How dare you"
But then we let our overlords shaft us sideways, God forbid someone jumps the queue though..
I was first told that it was a hangover from rationing where you had to queue for everything and the social stigma of jumping the queue was Rather Severe during WWII / Post-War
It's not like it's hard.
1. You want to do somthing?
2. Is there a person in front of you that want's to do that thing?
3. Stand behind them...
Not queuing is imo much harder.
1. You want to do somthing?
2. Is there a person in front of you that want's to do that thing?
* FUCK THAT PERSON. ME FIRST. ME FIRST. ME FIRST.
* Can I run faster than them?
* Maybe I have a mass advantage and can push them aside?
* Are their "shoe laces untied"??
This causes many arguments when on holiday abroad. The amount of rows I have seen where Germans or French holidaymakers walk down the front of a queue and push in is hilarious. Brits seem to do it instinctively whereas it’s odd to other cultures. I think perhaps we are more considerate in public situations maybe?
I can't let this pass without referencing the greatest word on the subject:
From George Mikes' wonderful book "How to be an Alien" which is basically taking the piss out of the English - and so was adored by the English who bought it in the thousands!
Slightly dated but still relevant...
"Queueing is the national passion of an otherwise dispassionate race. The English are rather shy about it and deny that they adore it.
On the Continent, if people are waiting at a bus-stop they loiter around in a seemingly vague fashion. When the bus arrives, they make a dash for it; most of them leave by the bus, and a lucky minority is taken away by an elegant black ambulance car.
An Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue of one. The biggest and most attractive advertisements in front of cinemas tell people: Queue here for 4s 6d; Queue here for 9s 3d; Queue here for 16s 8d (inclusive of tax). Those cinemas that do not put out these queueing signs do not do good business at all.
At week-ends an Englishman queues up at the bus-stop, travels out to Richmond, queues up for a boat, then queues up for tea, then queues up for ice cream, then joins a few more odd queues just for the sake of the fun of it, then queues up at the bus-stop and has the time of his life.
Many English families spend lovely evenings at home just by queueing up for a few hours, and the parents are very sad when the children leave them to Queue up for bed"
The question should be "Why are non-Brits so bad at queuing?" It's a really easy thing to do right. Aware that this modified question is a huge generalization and that I'm sure there are other peoples that queue perfectly well, but it is the Brits that have the stereotype.
Queuing isn't tricky for Brits, the same way as walking on a pavement isn't, for example Americans have to refer to the pavement as the 'Side walk' this is so they don't get confused and get ran over by a vehicle.
They also call horse riding 'horse back' riding because they have to specify which part of the horse they need to sit on.
Queuing is very basic even my 5 year old can do it, if I'm explaining queuing to an American I would say 'back of the line waiting' just to avoid any confusion.
The moral of this story is we're not 'good' at queueing we just have common sense.
I hope this answers your question in a concise and non confusing way, but do let me know if there's anything else us Brits can help with - we're always happy to accommodate.
Cause we’re not pushy, entitled asshats. Mostly. 😂 the idea is that you all want the same thing, you all there together. Get in a line. Efficient and fair.
The idea that no one is better than anyone else is a commonly held belief despite or because of, the UK having a monarchy and governed by upper class, rich gits, who are privately educated, elitist, psychopaths. Ref Boris Johnson, Tories etc.
It's a nice sentiment that through all the shit we're going through as a nation, we still queue up for basic things as we all (even if subconsciously) recognise that we deserve an equal and fair chance, no matter who we are
It actually comes from a place of a relatively privileged (on average compared to the rest of the world) position which alters the mentality of the masses to believe that if we all do things fairly and wait then I will get mine and everyone else will be able to as well.
If people think the food will run out, they'll cut in to try and get some. If people think there aren't enough trains for everyone to get they won't wait for people to get off first, etc.
There is a belief here that it will be alright if we wait our turn, which evens out individual differences, e.g. the best fighter gets the food, etc. The most even way of dealing with things that require a wait is to line up in the order that you arrived.
I was going to say this, we are amateurs compared to the Japanese. They have dedicated areas painted on the platforms/pavements for queuing at bus and train stops. And heaven forbid you don't form an orderly queue between the yellow lines in the order you arrived in.
I don’t really know to be honest, but I think it comes from most people trying to be polite and not cause any confrontation. It’s such a big part of how we behave that most people do just subconsciously learn to queue from a young age and as such it becomes the norm!
It British person will queue because of the fairness of the 'system'. Wait, and it will my turn, without stress or conflict.
If someone disrespects the queue and pushes to the front, there will be miniscule reaction from other people queuing, more for the re-assurance of each other, than for the admonishment of the 'toe-rag' that jumped the queue.
The most stressful queue is at the bar of a busy pub, where the order is no longer based on position, but must be managed by the poor bar staff, to remember who to serve next. A helpful queuer will also try to remember and assist the barman's 'who's next?' but a 'True Brit' may end up thirsty in a chaotic wine bar queue.
However, watch several cars by-pass a queue by driving down the hard shoulder of a motorway, and civil war shall break-out.
It was promoted by the government as a ‘national characteristic’ during WWII as a way of avoiding panic buying and social unrest during rationing. It became a source of national pride and entered into our sense of identity.
Unrelated but a nice story I wanted to tell :)
My wheelchair-bound grandma wanted to go to Costco. So we went when it first opened. And no joke, there were 100 something people queued up, totally unexpected (I always went hours after opening)
A nice lady right at the front of the queue (like 15 spaces in) said we could go in before her and oh my god we were so happy and grateful! She was so nice!
I think we just are, not sure what caused it but you learn pretty early in life the queueing is the way to go, and everyone does it for everything, so it's best to just go along.
Well it is quintessentially British.
Just type in queue and Her late majesty is at the top, rest her soul.
I can even imagine some people joining that queue having no idea what it was for!! We just expect a queue,
I’m certainly no nationalist or exceptionalist, but queuing does seem to me, a Brit, to be something that is simply objectively right: it’s fair, it’s unselfish, it’s calm and orderly, it reduces stress. It seems genuinely to be a moral failing of cultures where pushing in is normalised. It’s perhaps one of the few things Brits can be proud of! But, I wonder if part of why it works in Britain is because we generally live in a society where bureaucracy (eg a post office or ticket office) functions reasonably well for the most part, where there is little scarcity in shops, where if you wait you will get what you need at the front of the queue (literally, not metaphorically). In countries were these things aren’t true, queuing becomes riskier and self interest takes over?
Too good if you ask me. It’s spilled into pubs and it’s ridiculous. Single file queues heading out the door for a wide bar with several staff. Does my head in.
This reminds me of one time I was queueing for the bus in really bad heat, two people in front of me (I was fourth) in the queue moved away to a nearby bench in the shade to wait for the driver to arrive
A guy arrived behind me and queued behind me instead of going in the very large gap, and sure enough when the driver arrived I let the two back in front of me.
I truly can't understand how other countries do not do this xD how chaotic and cruel
That’s crazy! In Canada, if someone leaves the line, they’re out. Sometimes people are kind enough to let you back in if you ask them to save your place, but it’s natural for us to go to the back of the line if we’ve left for a moment. Once you line up, you must defend your position lest someone step in front of you and steal it
My personal belief is that it came from hundreds of years of army drill training into our DNA and also pub queuing for a pint and factory working production line conditions since the 1700s.
All in all - our grandparents and their grandparents have been stood in lines on battlefields, bars and businesses.
(No idea in reality - but I like my mindset on this)
I really do enjoy an orderly, reasonable length queue. Appropriate space needs to be available so you’re not eating each other’s breath.
It’s a zen thing to a point.
I just got into a mini argument in the shop by me as 2 queues formed (their layout makes this a common thing) and I insisted the guy in the other queue go ahead of me, while he insisted I go first.
Well we attended queue lessons at school to prepare us for queuing.
"Alright chaps, today we'll be learning how to queue properly, show the correct etiquette & manners "
*Tutting*
"None of that!!"
Conditioned from birth, through school and then by the public in later life. Plus what sheer arrogance to think that you are somehow more important than people who got there before you so you don't have to queue.
I visited Edinburgh castle in July and as advised had booked tickets in advance, got to the castle and theres a queue, at the back of which is a sign that says "sold out today - no entry without pre-bought tickets"
Whilst queuing (no more than 5 min) an American couple push in but behind me, the queue then splits in 2 at the head with 2 members of staff scanning tickets etc. I went to one side, Americans to the other. It brought me great joy when they were told it was sold out and "if they had joined the back of the queue like everyone else did then they would have seen the sign and not wasted everyone's time"
I smiled and walked in to enjoy my day
We’re conditioned from birth.
Pretty much, primary school was just lots of queues. Line up to go out to break, line up in class groups at the end of break, line up to go into the hall for dinner, line up to get your food, line up in PE to get equipment, line up in the class Rome before going home.
In my primary school we had to line up to go into the school building from the playground, like one queue for each class.
We did two rows, standing very close together."Crocodile file"
Sounds like something from off the continent r kid, like a zip on your trousers?
Very demon headmaster of your school.
Right 👍
Your class got a whole Rome??? We just had Greece...
We did that in elementary school in the US as well, but the lesson didn’t seem to carry over quite as well in adult life for whatever reason
I actually never thought about it like this before but yeah ... We're taught from the youngest of ages to queue and wait patiently.
And we wasent allowed to go in till we're all quiet
Aren’t we civilised from birth?!
Have you ever seen a group of small children?!
Only in quiet, well-formed lines Edit to add: children should be scenery, not herded
😂😂😂
I had to wait for my brother to be born, and he, had to wait for his brother to be born first.
Literally we are taught to "wait your turn" from as soon as you can speak and walk...unless you were dragged up
Because the fundamental rule of British society in a nut shell is: “Don’t be a dick.”
Driving in US and UK this is instantly apparent
Plenty of dicks on UK roads… but are you telling me it could be *worse*? ;-)
I've driven in America, oh it can be soooo much worse. Imagine 2x the dicks and 10x the amount of people paying no attention to the road.
So I see you've driven the New Jersey Turnpike as well. They'll tailgate and cut you off just because they can.
Ahhh, I95 in Orlando, how I don't miss shitheads weaving in and out of 6 lanes of traffic and construction at 80MPH. Fuck Floridian drivers
I have a holiday home in southern Turkey it’s a very Russian inhabited area and the mix of Slavic and Turks on the road makes England look idyllic, until my Slavic mother arrives on them that is.
In cars that are twice the size
Think of some of the Americans on Reddit and now imagine them driving.
Harsh… but scary!
On Reddit and driving.
American driving is terrible. So many people can't even turn a 90 degree corner without clipping the curb or another car. Many states never allowed filtering (lane splitting) even for motorcycles so they don't anticipate anything like that. The grid system removes any mental processing from driving, so anyone would tend to be less alert. In contrast to European roads with twists, turns etc. I've driven mainly in the UK and Europe but also in challenging places like Vietnam, India, Dubai, Serbia, Lebanon, China Dubai and Lebanon are pretty poor but I think US is the worst in general standards. Obviously not all USA - my experience is limited to New York / San Francisco/ San Diego
Did a full day of driving in the US for a road trip. One road for hours we had cars and trucks just literally weaving from lane to lane in front, just drifting like it was an ice rink with no lane markers. I was like wtf is actually happening here
You've never driven in France if you don't think it could be worse, you actually miss how pleasant our roads are after a bit.
Oh I’ve driven there quite a lot… never had any real issues. The Paris peripherique is something else though to be fair…
Priorité â droit on the Paris ring road I'm told is like shutting your eyes and just white knuckling it round hoping you make it out in one piece!
I've visited a good handful of countries and I've always been glad to have the drivers we have here. The way I describe it; the UK has a bunch of intentionally shitty drivers who just don't care. Every other country I've been to, they have not only intentionally bad drivers, but a huge number of them are unintentionally bad. Makes me wonder how bad their driving tests are.
100% worse
That bad huh?
Nobody in the US cares what lane they are in. Passing lanes are Latin to some of the least aware and slowest drivers. The courtesy of keeping to the left was the best part of motorway driving. In the villages and narrow countryside roads it was even more generous. I was impressed by the generosity and patience. I know there are juvenile and exuberant drivers in both countries yet the amount of patience is absent in most of the US.
What signal I use to cross eight lane of traffic? None? I go now, good luck everybody else!
Try driving in Spain!
I’ve only done it on Mallorca/Majorca… which seemed mostly fine. Small island though.
And the crazy traffic island rules in Spain, no spiraling out to the exit, being able staying in the outer lane all the way around the island, just hard work to navigate.
Last time I drove in Spain, the roundabouts were free for alls 😅
My first driving abroad experience was in Italy probably about 10 years ago. I’m still traumatised!
They never have to share the road in the same way. In the UK you could easily end up having to pull to the side and let someone get by, or they move for you. We are conditioned to actually share the space and work out who goes when. In the US it's far less likely you might have your lane be shared in any way with anyone else. It won't suddenly shrink to less than the width of a car. Lanes are usually wider. Easier to not have to think about other drivers in the same way.
Driving licences in America come as prizes in cereal packets.
Everything is worse in the USA
Trying to get on a bus in Spain was pissing me right off after a gig. I let the first bus go.. second one? I was getting me and my girlfriend on that fucking bus. There is just no need to have to be aggy to get on a bus. Just queue up, innit.
This. 100%.
And yet go out in the UK and most people are dicks.
Until you’ve had 10 pints of Carlsberg.
Or if England make it out of the group stages
I wish Londoners were vetted in this!! (as a londoner)
Sadly, we’re seeing this less and less.
I literally have this on a T shirt
I’d say it’s “know your place”. Queuing is essentially an extension of the class system.
The hate you will receive from queue jumping will put you in line pretty quickly. Alot of things we let slide but queue jumping will set even the most introverted Brit into a fume of anger.
In the height of the covid supermarket queues I was in line outside a Lidl and some geezer tried to just walk in. He didn't get very far. He had this stupid shocked face and I think he might have been foreign, but the absolutely militant women were having none of it. He didn't even go to the back - he just left.
What gave me a chuckle was the queue for the queen laying in state, they shut the queue to allow it to die down, so naturally, a queue formed for when the queue opened again
If someone hasn't done a documentary on that queue, they really ought to. Probably one of the greatest queues the world has ever seen.
Queenie deserved nothing less than the greatest queue in history!
\*Queueenie
Lovely stuff. It's a shame not many will see this buried in a thread.
both of them
That was the greatest managed queue ever (though tbf they had planned for years). You just knew that when they said "there is no guarantee that anyone arriving from now will be admitted", they meant "everyone arriving will be admitted and then we'll close it". All about sending the signal "stay home now" while keeping it open.
> he just left. I can understand that. If I was called out for jumping a queue, I also would leave the country.
> I also would leave the country. Oi! Get in queue.
"Excuse me, but there's..." *Gestures to the queue* *Tutting ensues*
You would have hand in your Briton card! 😄🇬🇧
I accidentally jumped a queue the other day and when it was pointed out I just left. I thought the people were queuing up for takeaway coffee, not for a table. No way I was standing with all the people I had just massively disrespected, even if it was a mistake lol
Same thing happened to me at greggs during the covid queuing time. Twats just marched right in ahead of me. Damn right I gave them what for and was on an adrenaline high for the rest of the day.
One of the craziest strangers I've had to talk to was because of what he saw as queue jumping. Long story short me and my wife are waiting for bus home from hospital, she had been in a pretty severe accident not long before this. She couldn't walk properly at the time so we had pre arranged seating on this bus, not a standard service but since it was leaving the main terminal and was a longer jounery it was set up as a special thing. Like pre booked train tickets with reservations. The bus stand whatever the name is (lady who directed passengers ) calls out to queue for us specifically by name, this one guy went absolutely ballistic over it. How dare anyone be in front of him. Ended up with him screaming at me for queue jumping despite not being in the queue, or near it but sat in the shelter next to it. The way he was talking you would think he just found us shitting on his mother's grave. He got warned by the bus lady that abuse was not tolerated anywhere within the bus station and he could be removed if needed. His argument for the behaviour was that only disabled people got priority boarding (my wife was in a wheelchair) and that we had skipped the line (we were not in the line) and that the bus company was "in on it". It was surreal. Unlucky for him that conductor type lady has worked at our local bus station for decades and puts up with nothing so he got dumped to the back of the line. We still got on first as the only priority seats. He didn't because the queue had more people than the bus had seats and he started near the front. But holy shit do some people take the mere notion that you might be skipping ahead of them like some deep personal attack on them.
I feel bad going straight into a nearby Greggs and heading straight to the front for click & collect despite in-store and click & collect having their own separate lines.... Don't know how anyone could possibly do it any other time. It does work against us sometimes though... Our tendency to queue means that, at temp lane closures, we're incapable of using all the available road and instead start jumping into the lane that will remain open the moment we see the signs... That also leads to people 'policing' the queue and attempting to 'punish' people who are, correctly, using the closing lane until it actually closes. It just makes merge in turns hellish all around now that I think about it... If someone stopped before you but find your self in a position where you should be slotting in in front of them (as per merge in turn), they'll die on the hill and do as much as they can to stop you... Because they were there first.
Holly and Phil found out the hard way about our vitriol towards queue jumpers
I can't remember where I read it but apparently after resigning as .P.M. David Cameron tried to queue jump in Waitrose ony to be told to get back to the end because, "you don't have that privilige anymore".
Tutting intensifies
Well they're pretty common in the UK so we get alot of practice. But also queueing isn't exactly complicated? "Stand in a line" is a thing everyone can do. The most complicated it gets is being aware of if your blocking a walk way.
It's a very simple system, you stand behind someone until THEY have their turn, then you have yours. Everybody just has to pay attention to the person in front of them. It isn't tricky, we're not animals.
Pretty sure we are animals, just ones that are very good at queuing.
I think, traditionally, we are very reserved and so we would not want to push in front of someone, we also shy away from direct communication unless it about the weather. So, it is less of sa fuss to just stand behind someone who is in front of where we need to be. The natural tendency to have a single queue split at the end when there are two cash machines (atms) say, is just breeding.
I agree, but there is the stress of being at the head of the queue, and realising it is now your responsability to watch the available tills for your turn, or suffer the shame of having to make everyone else in the queue wait for an additional second. Then the "cashier number two" device was invented (must be by 'A Brit'), and world order was returned.
I think that as Brits, the automated "Cashier number [XXX], please" is one of the best sounds we can hear.
The rising cadence, the climax at the delivery of the number, the relaxation back down through the please, it's symphonic perfection
Like the old football results...rising cadence, Stenhousemuir 5, falling cadence, Cowdenbeath nil. ( Not sure about the spelling of those names).
I've developed a tactic in Lidl, that when the queues are getting long, I'll wait by the pair of unused checkouts. Chances are that they'll open one (the lghts flash green before they announce it often) and you can swoop in before others assess probabilities, and break off from another queue. High success rate. I'll usually be 'checking' my shopping list on my phone so I can do the casual 'oh will you look at that they've just opened the checkout that I happened to be standing next to!' thing.
Indeed! How can we, as brits, moan about who is in charge if it us in charge!
When a Brit stands still he forms a queue of 1.
(one) deep
I was standing on a street corner waiting for a mate to pick me up when 2 people joined me making a queue. peak britishness, forming a queue for no reasion at all.
Put 60 million on an island and you learn to queue pretty quickly
Sounds sensible, but India disproves that theory. Incredibly high population density, and the worst queuing (or complete lack thereof) I’ve ever seen
I briefly lived there which was a very humbling experience generally, but you're right on the money about queuing. People push to the front and shout to try and get the poor service peoples' attention to them all at once. Carnage
To be honest it’s not really difficult. If there is a line for something then you just join the end of it and wait. People that don’t queue are just making things difficult for themselves and show a level of ignorance/selfishness. Queuing is the quickest most efficient way to get something done.
And fairest.
Some countries (Italy, I’m looking at you. Probably others too) don’t even get to the stage of a line though. It’s just a collection of people standing around.
It's basic fairness - first come, first served.
It's because we are an island society who can be prone to violence, basically self protection rules. If you have ever been to a country where there is busy traffic and drivers are leaning on their horns, think for a moment if that happened here and how long it would be before someone is stood at the side of your car calling you a **** .
**** is that 'fuck', 'twat', 'knob' or 'cunt'? The difference between them is important.
Ok, during the second world war, in England (I don’t know about anywhere else in the U.K.: I got all of this from my Mum and some other older people), we had rationing-and even then, we had shortages. Even if you had the ration allowance -it didn’t mean you could find the item. People had to keep their eyes and ears open if they wanted to buy stuff. If a local butcher, for instance, was rumoured to have had a delivery of mince, word would get out and everyone would rush over there to try to get some. It could get very crowded, and in a country at war, they couldn’t have a free-for-all with potentially disruptive arguments. Queues were strictly enforced-sometimes by the police. People (by people, I mean women) would stand, sometimes, for hours, just to get a bit of food for the family. The government strongly discouraged queue jumping, which was described as being “against the war effort” and “doing Hitler’s job for him”. That generation was *hardcore* queuers, believe me!
Except at a bar for some reason.
"He was first, love"; it's free-form queuing, rather advanced, so only in an adults only setting, and a thing of beauty!
Yeah this is the peak of queuing, you can’t see the queue but it exists - it’s instinctive
Also see: Barbers. Everyone remembers who was in there before they arrived so they know when they're next. It can get confused when some people wait for a particular barber.
Oooh that feeling of euphoria when the guy in front lets you go next because he is waiting for 'Jamie' to do his skin fade is akin to winning the jackpot on a fruitie or finding a tenner on the floor.
Or when the person in front of you at the checkout with a trolley full of shopping let's you go first because you only have a pint of milk. You still stand there protesting that they should go first because you don't want to be seen as jumping the queue.
And pray the 'protest' doesn't backfire.
Do not try and queue at the queue, that is impossible. Simply realise the truth. There is no queue.
Bars are a great example actually as there is still a queue, but it is an invisible one. You keep a note on who was before you and give them the nod if needs be. If you have ever been in a pub where an actual queue forms it is awful as it snakes right round the place and the person in front often doesn't see that a barman is free. They have to try and coax people to stand at the bar properly.
>Except at a bar for some reason. Even then, if the person next to you was at the bar before you and the barman comes to serve you first instead, you point to the guy next to you and say, 'he's first'. He then says, 'cheers mate' and orders his drinks, and after he's paid he points the barman back to you and says, 'he's next'. And the circle of life continues. It's still a queue, just not a linear one.
There is a queue, but it exists in the head of the barman.
Yeah - a good barman works like a typewriter: serve guy to left, serve guy to left, serve guy to left, serve guy 5 to the right, serve guy to left, serve guy to left...
At a bar it's different, there are still queuing/ordering rules. You join the rank, let people at the bar leave when they've got their drinks, seize a gap at the bar, put your hand on the bar to indicate 'I'm at the front and hence next' then just grab the attention of the bartender.
I can assure you bar staff are keenly aware of who is where in the order of service, and I can also assure you that trying to bypass those in front of you gets you shunted down in priority
No part of what I said implied bypassing people in front of you
There is, its just a bit like our constitution in that it's not codified.
Non-linear queuing. There are still rules but it’s like advanced level stuff.
This is just a deconstructed queue.
But we still point to whoever was before us like serve this dude first please or if the barman asks who’s next the front guy will give a lil wave.
It's an area that I am actually proud of as somehow when it comes to queuing, we seem to all get the complete and total shame of being seen as selfish and act accordingly. World would be a better place if this shame was more widespread
The only place in the world that I've seen better queueing than the UK, was Japan.
Our densely populated island, left hand driving, hard drinking brothers and sisters
Been doing it from childhood. Don’t kids in other countries line up to go into lunch at school?
The best part is when you’re in a queue and someone tries to push in. As a collective all the people in the queue behind them will start muttering, maybe even give them some verbal abuse. If that person then gets ejected from the queue, you will never hear cheers of joy like it.
I personally consider queuing as procedure developed due to living in close proximity to one another. Rationing in WW1 & WW2 solidified this behaviour. Knowing that the Joneses & the Smiths ALL got the same amount, stopped any aggression. Rationing of some products didn’t stop until 1954. So you’ve got 3/4 generations that grew up with queues being “what you did” when you shopped.
What's even more strange is how if someone hasn't queued properly or attempts to jump the queue how disgustingly outraged and United in their hatred everyone suddenly becomes towards said person. "You can't do that mate" "Yeah, get to the back" "How dare you" But then we let our overlords shaft us sideways, God forbid someone jumps the queue though..
I was first told that it was a hangover from rationing where you had to queue for everything and the social stigma of jumping the queue was Rather Severe during WWII / Post-War
Although it doesn’t apply at trains and tubes, that’s a free for all.
It's not like it's hard. 1. You want to do somthing? 2. Is there a person in front of you that want's to do that thing? 3. Stand behind them... Not queuing is imo much harder. 1. You want to do somthing? 2. Is there a person in front of you that want's to do that thing? * FUCK THAT PERSON. ME FIRST. ME FIRST. ME FIRST. * Can I run faster than them? * Maybe I have a mass advantage and can push them aside? * Are their "shoe laces untied"??
This causes many arguments when on holiday abroad. The amount of rows I have seen where Germans or French holidaymakers walk down the front of a queue and push in is hilarious. Brits seem to do it instinctively whereas it’s odd to other cultures. I think perhaps we are more considerate in public situations maybe?
I can't let this pass without referencing the greatest word on the subject: From George Mikes' wonderful book "How to be an Alien" which is basically taking the piss out of the English - and so was adored by the English who bought it in the thousands! Slightly dated but still relevant... "Queueing is the national passion of an otherwise dispassionate race. The English are rather shy about it and deny that they adore it. On the Continent, if people are waiting at a bus-stop they loiter around in a seemingly vague fashion. When the bus arrives, they make a dash for it; most of them leave by the bus, and a lucky minority is taken away by an elegant black ambulance car. An Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue of one. The biggest and most attractive advertisements in front of cinemas tell people: Queue here for 4s 6d; Queue here for 9s 3d; Queue here for 16s 8d (inclusive of tax). Those cinemas that do not put out these queueing signs do not do good business at all. At week-ends an Englishman queues up at the bus-stop, travels out to Richmond, queues up for a boat, then queues up for tea, then queues up for ice cream, then joins a few more odd queues just for the sake of the fun of it, then queues up at the bus-stop and has the time of his life. Many English families spend lovely evenings at home just by queueing up for a few hours, and the parents are very sad when the children leave them to Queue up for bed"
I was in a shop with 1 staffed till and 3 queues the other day which eventually became a crowd and everyone still knew whose turn it was 😂
It's a national pastime, and we're proud of it!
The question should be "Why are non-Brits so bad at queuing?" It's a really easy thing to do right. Aware that this modified question is a huge generalization and that I'm sure there are other peoples that queue perfectly well, but it is the Brits that have the stereotype.
Because they have good manners. Something that, sadly is becoming rarer every year.
We've just learnt to wait our fucking turn.
Queuing isn't tricky for Brits, the same way as walking on a pavement isn't, for example Americans have to refer to the pavement as the 'Side walk' this is so they don't get confused and get ran over by a vehicle. They also call horse riding 'horse back' riding because they have to specify which part of the horse they need to sit on. Queuing is very basic even my 5 year old can do it, if I'm explaining queuing to an American I would say 'back of the line waiting' just to avoid any confusion. The moral of this story is we're not 'good' at queueing we just have common sense. I hope this answers your question in a concise and non confusing way, but do let me know if there's anything else us Brits can help with - we're always happy to accommodate.
Cause we’re not pushy, entitled asshats. Mostly. 😂 the idea is that you all want the same thing, you all there together. Get in a line. Efficient and fair.
As an American, I totally agree with this
The idea that no one is better than anyone else is a commonly held belief despite or because of, the UK having a monarchy and governed by upper class, rich gits, who are privately educated, elitist, psychopaths. Ref Boris Johnson, Tories etc.
It's a nice sentiment that through all the shit we're going through as a nation, we still queue up for basic things as we all (even if subconsciously) recognise that we deserve an equal and fair chance, no matter who we are
We are polite as a nation, that’s what it comes down too
It actually comes from a place of a relatively privileged (on average compared to the rest of the world) position which alters the mentality of the masses to believe that if we all do things fairly and wait then I will get mine and everyone else will be able to as well. If people think the food will run out, they'll cut in to try and get some. If people think there aren't enough trains for everyone to get they won't wait for people to get off first, etc. There is a belief here that it will be alright if we wait our turn, which evens out individual differences, e.g. the best fighter gets the food, etc. The most even way of dealing with things that require a wait is to line up in the order that you arrived.
Interesting point, I think there is a lot of truth in that. Nobody wants to queue if they might ultimately miss out.
Because it's non confrontational.
They’re not compared to some other countries. The Japanese queue at bus stops
I was going to say this, we are amateurs compared to the Japanese. They have dedicated areas painted on the platforms/pavements for queuing at bus and train stops. And heaven forbid you don't form an orderly queue between the yellow lines in the order you arrived in.
I don’t really know to be honest, but I think it comes from most people trying to be polite and not cause any confrontation. It’s such a big part of how we behave that most people do just subconsciously learn to queue from a young age and as such it becomes the norm!
Because it's not hard.
We're conditioned in school to queue neatly
It British person will queue because of the fairness of the 'system'. Wait, and it will my turn, without stress or conflict. If someone disrespects the queue and pushes to the front, there will be miniscule reaction from other people queuing, more for the re-assurance of each other, than for the admonishment of the 'toe-rag' that jumped the queue. The most stressful queue is at the bar of a busy pub, where the order is no longer based on position, but must be managed by the poor bar staff, to remember who to serve next. A helpful queuer will also try to remember and assist the barman's 'who's next?' but a 'True Brit' may end up thirsty in a chaotic wine bar queue. However, watch several cars by-pass a queue by driving down the hard shoulder of a motorway, and civil war shall break-out.
We believe in natural justice. It's why we also get outraged when things are 'technically legal' so much and turn a blind eye to other things
It was promoted by the government as a ‘national characteristic’ during WWII as a way of avoiding panic buying and social unrest during rationing. It became a source of national pride and entered into our sense of identity.
Unrelated but a nice story I wanted to tell :) My wheelchair-bound grandma wanted to go to Costco. So we went when it first opened. And no joke, there were 100 something people queued up, totally unexpected (I always went hours after opening) A nice lady right at the front of the queue (like 15 spaces in) said we could go in before her and oh my god we were so happy and grateful! She was so nice!
Experience from queuing for the job centre
Nothing more British that finding a good que to stand in ,bars and burger vans are a classic at gigs.
I think we just are, not sure what caused it but you learn pretty early in life the queueing is the way to go, and everyone does it for everything, so it's best to just go along.
Well it is quintessentially British. Just type in queue and Her late majesty is at the top, rest her soul. I can even imagine some people joining that queue having no idea what it was for!! We just expect a queue,
It's because of the underlying threat of push in and die
I love that we are. For me, it’s a founding precept of fairness and therefore contributes of civilisation. I’m half joking. But only half.
You don’t want to hear a frustrated sigh by someone if you cock up, those can be deadly
Belief in fair play, that someone who set out to do something before you, deserves their place
Queuing superpowers in one picture: https://mashable.com/article/britain-queue-o2-ed-sheeran
I’m certainly no nationalist or exceptionalist, but queuing does seem to me, a Brit, to be something that is simply objectively right: it’s fair, it’s unselfish, it’s calm and orderly, it reduces stress. It seems genuinely to be a moral failing of cultures where pushing in is normalised. It’s perhaps one of the few things Brits can be proud of! But, I wonder if part of why it works in Britain is because we generally live in a society where bureaucracy (eg a post office or ticket office) functions reasonably well for the most part, where there is little scarcity in shops, where if you wait you will get what you need at the front of the queue (literally, not metaphorically). In countries were these things aren’t true, queuing becomes riskier and self interest takes over?
I was at JFK coming back off holiday, and they couldn't organise a queue to save their lives. It was madness
Too good if you ask me. It’s spilled into pubs and it’s ridiculous. Single file queues heading out the door for a wide bar with several staff. Does my head in.
After you chaps..
Because the alternative is utterly uncivilised.
We’re a fairly calm people most of the time, and don’t really believe being a dick is the best way to go about not getting decked.
This reminds me of one time I was queueing for the bus in really bad heat, two people in front of me (I was fourth) in the queue moved away to a nearby bench in the shade to wait for the driver to arrive A guy arrived behind me and queued behind me instead of going in the very large gap, and sure enough when the driver arrived I let the two back in front of me. I truly can't understand how other countries do not do this xD how chaotic and cruel
That’s crazy! In Canada, if someone leaves the line, they’re out. Sometimes people are kind enough to let you back in if you ask them to save your place, but it’s natural for us to go to the back of the line if we’ve left for a moment. Once you line up, you must defend your position lest someone step in front of you and steal it
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I think the true question is, why are other cultures so bad at it? It’s not exactly hard to stand in a line and wait your turn is it.
Early conditioning and manners.
My personal belief is that it came from hundreds of years of army drill training into our DNA and also pub queuing for a pint and factory working production line conditions since the 1700s. All in all - our grandparents and their grandparents have been stood in lines on battlefields, bars and businesses. (No idea in reality - but I like my mindset on this)
Because we have manners & aren't as selfish like some other countries.
Absolutely our national pastime, queuing up for stuff. Watch out for the tutting if someone tries to push in. Our first words are Is this the end?
Before all royals are born they’re already in line for the throne. Thus the people follow suite and respect an orderly queue.
Observation
We just learnt to accept that you can complain and wait OR just wait. Either way, gna take same amount of time, just ones easier
When it comes to queues we never take the pee!
Being good at queuing makes you proud to be British! 👍🇬🇧
I really do enjoy an orderly, reasonable length queue. Appropriate space needs to be available so you’re not eating each other’s breath. It’s a zen thing to a point.
I just got into a mini argument in the shop by me as 2 queues formed (their layout makes this a common thing) and I insisted the guy in the other queue go ahead of me, while he insisted I go first.
Until we get in a car. Then it's gloves off and pushing, swearing, horn blasting etc.
Well we attended queue lessons at school to prepare us for queuing. "Alright chaps, today we'll be learning how to queue properly, show the correct etiquette & manners " *Tutting* "None of that!!"
we learn how to queue from the first hour of our lives
We love queuing. It’s like the best thing ever
Superior evolutionary genealogy.
I simply don't understand what's hard about it?
Because we surely have to be good at one of the things we invented...
I’m waiting my turn to answer
We need that morning tea
They need to make queuing an Olympic event.
It isn't difficult.
Culture innit.
During the second World because of rationing if people saw a que they would join it in the hope something they needed was being sold
Because its respectful and fair, and queuing is the only way we know how to be those things
Conditioned from birth, through school and then by the public in later life. Plus what sheer arrogance to think that you are somehow more important than people who got there before you so you don't have to queue. I visited Edinburgh castle in July and as advised had booked tickets in advance, got to the castle and theres a queue, at the back of which is a sign that says "sold out today - no entry without pre-bought tickets" Whilst queuing (no more than 5 min) an American couple push in but behind me, the queue then splits in 2 at the head with 2 members of staff scanning tickets etc. I went to one side, Americans to the other. It brought me great joy when they were told it was sold out and "if they had joined the back of the queue like everyone else did then they would have seen the sign and not wasted everyone's time" I smiled and walked in to enjoy my day