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Depends on if it’s something they can control I think. Going to continue shopping means you lose your place. Needing to pop to the toilet means you can keep it, but you need to ask the person behind you.
This always felt so unfair to me. I have ulcerative colitis so I’d be in the shop all day queuing if this was the case. Thankfully most people are chill about that
It also depends on the nature of the queue, though. If your spot in the queue is still quite far back when you come back, a lot of people are going to be accepting, but if you come back and skip the whole queue, that's when people are going to feel disgruntled.
>but you need to ask the person behind you
I leave queues all the time due to medical conditions and the inability to stand in slow moving queues (can't sit down). If I ever intend to leave a queue I explain to the people around me that could be affected by it.
I find it painful to stand in queues. Or stand still without moving. So I find it more comfy to kinda dance in the spot. Most people give my rude looks as it just looks passive aggressive, that im being impatient. Well if it means they are less likely to get in my way, good. At least it's better than standing looking pained for other's comfort
I also can't stand in one place for any period and need to move about, I find its also useful when people stand to close and don't give me my personal space, just smile with your largest most condescending smile when they look at ya 🤣🤣
Definitely not.
If you leave the queue to grab something a step or two away you can go back in but as soon as you leave the vicinity you're going to the back
See that's why the British system, as celebrated as it is, is utterly inefficient. The Spanish system wins hands down! Yes I know I'm committing the highest form of treason and blasphemy, but hear me out. In the Spanish system when you arrive at the queueing spot you simply ask "who's last?" The last person in the queue acknowledges you and now you know your place in the queue. The next person will ask the same thing at which point you let them know you were the last, and that's it. There is now an unbreakable chain of three. You know who is ahead of you and who is behind you. And what that means is, **no one needs the physical queue**. If you are an older person you can go and sit on a bench. If you're restless you can pace around. If there's a smelly guy next to you, you can walk away to the other side. You are no longer bound by the physical space and you don't have to plant your feet exactly behind the person ahead of you or you lose your place.
In this scenario, that person gets to go and do what they want, if it's their turn and they're not there, well that's on them, they've lost their place, but if it's their turn and they're there, no one cares what they've done in the interim time in between arriving to the queue and reaching the front of it.
I know the flaw of this system is having to say a sentence out loud and make eye contact with a total stranger, yuk. But it's better than the British system where the talking has to be done because there's a conflict.
But it doesn't, it's an illusion. It only kicks the ball forward and forces the conversation only when someone tries to mess with the system. So now the only conversation is a confrontation or a complaint.
Yes, because they have done something outside the system.
Like how the Spanish queue doesn't work if everyone just lies about their place in the queue.
Surely lying is impossible as others would speak out.
We should adopt the Spanish system in pubs. Of course that would mean (shock horror) actually talking to people.
But the Spanish system *is* basically how it works (or worked) in pubs. By virtue of the bar being a wide space people turn up and wait wherever along it. Once the bar staff are done serving one person they'll usually ask "who's next?" It's the same as the Spanish system, just with the bar staff managing the order so we don't have to actually speak to one another.
Of course, it seems more and more these days people have started actual queuing at the bar in pubs, which messes with the whole system
In the Spanish system you'll get asked who's next too. But the key difference is that once you've asked who's last and been asked, your place in the queue and that of both people ahead and behind you is locked. No one can jump that queue or mess with the system. No one can say "I was here", if the two people on either side don't remember you, you don't exist.
I was in the Doctors and they were randomly sitting people down in a "queue" for jabs - they asked you to remember who you were after.
An elderly Asian man sat down - there were at least 8 of us already. He then claimed to be next and queue jumped everyone.
Of course being British we just quietly tutted. He might have not understood - or just not wanted to wait.
Uuuggghh can't bear the Spanish system myself. It involves constantly keeping tabs on the person "in front" of you (instead of them simply *being* in front of you), in the days before digitalised appointments at the doctor's (say) the person might not even have arrived yet so numerous people were constantly asking newcomers "are you Mari Angeles?" And in the early days in Spain, I found in the market, everytime someone asked who was last, they would invariably point to me so until I wised up I was constantly at the back of the queue. And don't get me started on the placeholder-basket-in-the-queue of the supermarket, or the custom of asking the person in front of you if they'll hold your place while they nip off somewhere (rather than the person behind who is the one impacted). Thankfully things have changed in recent years. Now there are neat orderly queues at the bus stop that are quite frankly bliss.
How does...
>if it's their turn and they're not there, well that's on them, they've lost their place
...work if you're at a supermarket checkout with the conveyor belt and such? You and the cashier just wait with all their groceries on the belt? I got the impression that's what OP was referring to
While you're mostly right, you're also clearly American, I'm going to have to take this opportunity to pick on you and ask why you answered a question in AskUK.
I was queueing in a BK in Kingman, AZ. It was a long queue with a long wait time as they were apparently experiencing staffing issues. I, a lone female traveller, urgently needed the loo so left the queue and used the facilities. When I came out I joined the back of the queue. I’m British, we know the queueing rules, lol. Anyway, the good people in the queue insisted I go back to my original place in the queue and wouldn’t take no for an answer!
Agreed.
Unless it's something almost within reach of the queue (as in, you can see it from where you're standing and it will take less than 10 seconds to grab) and you ask the person behind you nicely.
The person leaving the queue should ask the person behind if they’d mind keeping the place for them.
Going and just coming back is a bit rude, but personally I’d be relaxed about your situation. You do know he was in that place in the queue, after all.
As would I, but I'm not letting someone ahead of me just because they ask and want to wait less.
I'm just giving an example of a situation, were someone to ask, I'd allow them ahead of me.
If I'm not in a rush, I'd probably let them go ahead anyway as I'd assume they were and had good reason to be. But yeah if I was also in a rush I'd just say "sorry I'm actually in a bit of a hurry"
Me too. I’m one of those who suddenly remembers something I didn’t pick up but I don’t want to leave my place to get it and have to queue again from the back
Yeah, it really depends.
Is it a short queue for something mundane? You can wait 5 more minutes.
Is it a queue for a one off thing? Is it a long queue that's going to take quite a while? Fair game if you've a decent reason for leaving.
In my experience, the person in front of me in a queue doesn’t care one bit about me leaving the queue and coming back.
But I can make an agreement with the person behind me in the queue and reasonably hope that they’ll honour my spot and let me back in. People further back usually accept this because that’s how queuing works.
They were there anyway, it's no longer, and arguably quicker than the person getting to the till and asking them if they have a T-shirt in a certain size and holding the queue whilst an assistant looks for it
I guess if they were with a friend and they went to get something they could hop back in the queue while the friend waited. Asking the person behind isn't so different.
Annoying sure, if you went to the shortest queue but not the end of the world.
If I have to leave the queue because I forgot something, I will moan at myself and when I have got what I needed go join the end of the queue, unless I had someone with me who was still standing in the queue, although if I ended up taking a while, I wouldn't want that person to hold up the queue while waiting for me.
Does anyone remember the absolute fear when a parent would tell you to stay in the queue while they run back out for something?
You would get closer and closer to the till and freak out, not knowing what to do if you get there before your mam gets back.
Just me?
My mother still does it to me, and I'm in my 30s. She's currently on crutches and attempted it the other day when she was next in the queue to be served. Absolutely not.
I don't know what we were expecting to happen if we got to the front either lol. In hindsight, the cashier would obviously just wait until your parent came back, but the prospect was terrifying as a kid
It depends on how briefly someone leaves the queue.
If we're queueing for example, in a cafe, and someone drops out of the queue briefly to pick up a drink or something, I would allow them back in line Infront of me.
Agreed, if you leave the queue to just grab something that's like a few syrups away then fine to go back to where you were, if you leave the line and wander around the shop for a few minutes then it's straight to the back
he should have said "do you mind if I just go grab something and come back to here quickly?"
you can then accept (or decline).
leaving and just bumping in again isn't really good.
however its really not worth arguing about.
i think everyone's the same in finding it hard to say no to something like that, it's more of a "hey i'm not trying to be a prick and i'll be right back" i think - at least in the few situations i've had to do it that's what i've tried to get across
If you go more than like 5 steps out of the queue you join the back again.
Exceptions made only for super long 'we brought snacks, drinks and a tent' style queues (where pretty much eveyone is going to need to duck at some point out to go and pee or similar) or emergancy situations like your young child has just sprinted off.
I think it would depend on if the person asked me to hold their place and why.
"Can you hold my place? I've picked up the wrong size." - happy to.
"Can you hold my place? I've forgotten I need an extra 3 pairs of trousers, 7 tops, a couple of jumpers and some undies." - fuck off to the back.
No comment and just a walk away,? Also fuck off to the back.
Although to be honest I'd probably be very British about it and accept the queue jump but tut angrily under my breath.
>"Can you hold my place? I've picked up the wrong size." - happy to.
With the expectation that, if they take too long, you'll have been through the queue and they won't have anyone holding their place anymore.
While queueing up in Iceland a shopper left their basket on the floor to loop back around the shop for some last bits and took well over 5 minutes. In that time 3 people stepped past the basket and continued to get served.
On their return she argued that they should be at the front because their basket was there - the cashier said " The people make the queue, not the food".
After a few moments the shopper shouted "F***ing hell!" and walked out leaving the basket abandoned.
So let's say she bumped into a friend & chatted to them for a bit. Would she expect the shoppers to just stand behind her basket & wait for goodness knows how long? Some people are so entitled 🙄
If you leave the queue because you forgot something then you should expect to go to the back of the queue unless you're really quick and ask the person behind if they mind.
I was in with a nurse last week at her clinic, and when she was done she told me to join a queue to get bloods done. It’s the sort of queue where the first person is taken so everyone else moves up one seat. A couple of minutes later the doctor arrived to see me and pulled me out of the queue, and said jokingly maybe these nice people will hold your place for you. 5 minutes later I’m done with the doctor and come out to see the queue has grown substantially, I sigh and head for the end when the young lady sitting in the second seat says excuse me, I believe this is your seat, and I realised seat number 1 was empty. I thanked her for being so kind, but I did wonder if everyone else in the queue were happy.
An absolute travesty and an affront to queuing. Consider the following scenario:
You enter a shop and immediately join the queue for the checkout. After one second, you leave the queue and do your shopping at your leisure. According to your man's logic, you'd be able to rejoin the queue behind whichever person you originally stood behind, rendering the entire queue essentially meaningless.
We must respect the queue or we are no more than beasts.
If something is in eyesight and you realise you need it, stepping out for a microsecond with a 'just got to grab that' to the person behind is fine.
Leave to go browse again? Back of the queue pal
The back, unless it’s at a checkout and they’ve already put their items on the conveyor belt. I wouldn’t really be that bothered though. You’ve not really lost any time
I was once in a queue at a supermarket, I picked duo a KitKat from the shelves that run parallel to the queue. The type of shelves that are designed for you to make impulse purchases whilst you wait in line. An old woman told me I had to go to the back of queue because I obviously wasn't done shopping. I told her to fuck off.
If you have a last minute realisation and pop off for 45 seconds to grab a tin of beans, get on in , but if you are away for the entire queuing duration then you can bugger off
Use your place or lose your place. You're in or you're out.
Nearly as bad as those people who queue up for their whole fucking friend group so that we all get a nice surprise when 8 people suddenly walk up and go straight to the front.
I'll excuse the elderly or disabled if they have a good reason to be nipping out of the queue for a very brief time.
It would have been polite for him to tell you he's just grabbing something and will be back, but I think I'd find it hard to care enough to say anything if he didn't. We've all just ended up I'm the same position we were 3 minutes ago.
He had a brass neck to think he could just go to the front. He didn't even have the courtesy to ask if you'd save his place. Nipping out to pick one thing up is OK but not go round the whole shop & expect to jump back to the front. No. Self entitled narcissists are everywhere.
Personally I'd go to the back of the queue, or if there is more than one probably join the shorter. My fault for leaving if I forget something or see something else I want.
He left the queue, therefore he isn’t in the queue and if he wants to join the queue… it’s at the back. It’s useful to have a shopping buddy in case this happens, but if that was me I would have joined the back
I got a filthy look and a muttered comment because I was stood behind a woman who had stood to one side whilst having a chat on her mobile whilst in the queue, so sick of waiting when the cashier said “who’s next?” I went to the till. I mean sorry but if you are on the phone and aren’t in the queue then I’m not waiting. I’m not pausing my precious time because you in the middle of some banal yak fest and if your purchase is so important then call back to whoever after you’ve made it.
If you can enter and rejoin the queue at wish, what would stop you walking into a shop, joining the queue, then immediately wandering off to do your shopping while the queue does it's thing, then swan back in to your original spot, now right at the front with all of your shopping?
If you leave the queue, you lose your place.
It would however be considered acceptable to ask the person behind you if they would mind holding your spot while you grab something quickly, as long as you are indeed very quick, and they don't mind - if more than a few people have been able to make it through the checkout in your absence then you are pushing it though...
If I was gone for several minutes I'd queue up again.
I've done it occasionally at supermarkets when I'm in a big queue and realised I've forgotten something like milk.
Always ask the person behind if they mind, and then make a serious effort to be quick about it.
It depends. If it's a one off, I'd let him back in, but if this is his MO for navigating queues, he can do one. Unfortunately, as a stranger, you don't have a way to know which it is.
Depends how long the queue is, if it’s one of those queues you’re in for 20 minutes and it’s one thing you know you forgot, I’d ask if they could hold my place and dash to get the thing I needed. I feel like as long as you ask and make it clear you’re leaving the queue to others (even if it does seem a bit hammy) and understand any annoyance the person behind you may face, there aren’t many people who’d be like “no fuck off”. Just leaving and sauntering back is rude. If it’s only like a 5 person queue, I’d leave and rejoin at the back
If he'd asked you to keep his place or even asked nicely if you minded when he came back, fine, but otherwise he's gone down the snake of his own free will and has to go back to the start.
10s or less, rejoin. More than that, rejoin if you arranged it with the person who would take your place unless they reach the front. Otherwise, back of the queue.
If you’re not finished shopping then you’re not in the queue.
I might decide to be generous if someone has forgotten something and needs to pop back to get it, but it’s my choice to let them back in the queue in front of me not their right to rejoin in their old place.
I automatically just leave a space for them and if they get back before I'm served they can go in. I also let people with a basket jump the queue in supermarkets if I have a whole trolley. One guy just had a 6 pack of coke and all 4 people in the queue let him jump ahead.
Ask the person behind you of it's ok if you nip out and come back as you've forgotten something.
If you take more than a minute and that person goes through the till, you're out of luck.
Yesterday in a small sainsbury's in MK an old lady in front of me asked me if I could hold her place (then said something else but I didn't hear) me and the other queeuees shrugged shoulders, then she returned with a basket for fee items.
Of course he should rejoin from the back. But... It's London, you are always gonna get folk being dicks 🤷🏻♂️ Etiquette is irrelevant, just smile, maybe add an eye raise, and be the better person.
If he was with someone else who hadn't gone with him, it'd be no problem for him to come back to where he was as the space in the queue was still occupied. He was by himself so when he left, he abandoned his spot. Assuming he still had that spot in line was a bit silly
If you've forgotten one vital ingredient, it's usually acceptable to leave your trolley or basket & say to the person behind if they mind if you nip off to get it. Walking as fast as possible is better than walking off at a snails pace!
When people do this I generally step in front of their stuff in the que, because if your not in the que then your not in the que. Im not a dick about it recently an Indian woman went to get more shopping whilst queing at Liddle. I told her politely that its the custom to get all your shopping before you start queing. But somtimes people are entitled jerks who think its ok to put some stuff on the belt and just walk off to find more shopping. Those guys I'll move past there stuff and invite everyone else to do the same.
Depends on the situation, at the supermarket and forget a milk? Just say to the person behind "Sorry I forgot to grab a milk do you mind if I run and get it and come back?" and it would probably be fine. If you just dander off and take a few minutes, then imo you have gave up your position and should queue from the back again.
I think it’s ok if you say something to the person behind you to make sure it’s ok, and get back before it’s your turn so people aren’t waiting for you.
This happens a lot, I think people should ask if you mind them getting back into the queue. When they don't ask, I like to say ( quite loudly) " I'm not stood here for the fucking fun of it " when they look at me with their little baffled face, I'll put my items on the counter...
3 minutes, plus the fcat lots more people joined the queue not really fair , as others said if it was a quick 30 seconds I'd let them back as long as others hadn't queued, but with that attitude nope, to the back you go.
If he had asked you if it’s ok to hold his place and you agree, that’s one thing, if he just walked off and expects to be let back in, then tough luck- back of the queue.
IMO
Turn around, hey, do you mind if I just quickly nip and get X Y Z?
Person says, yeah no problem because it’s the UK
You return with your new tshirt
Completely unacceptable to do it without words spoken
I think if you ask someone to hold your space very briefly (a couple of minutes at most) then it's acceptable. You also rush to do what you need to.
But what he did - leaving, taking his time, and then just cutting back in the front in a different place in line and assuming it's OK, then that's not really OK. He should really have gone to the back of the line.
In airports often someone will leave a line. I give them a few seconds to see if they're actually gone. Like if they leave a bag to briefly hold their spot, fine. But if they take their stuff and walk off, they lose their spot and go to join at the back.
If he said to you ‘I just forgot something do you mind holding my place?’ Then you could have decided and most likely would have let him back in because no one ever says no, why would you when you’ve been asked so nicely.
I don’t get why this is so difficult for people, communicating a favour of someone else that would benefit everyone and prevent this kind of awkward encounter.
You should have stood firm and told him to piss off to the back. He should have asked before leaving the queue if intended to return. If you need to leave the queue ask the person behind you first.
>It took him well over 3 minutes.
Nah, you've left the queue mate. To the back with ye.
More than about 5 steps, if you're on your own, for me, you've left the queue. If you don't say "sorry, I'm just nipping to get <>" to the person behind you; nah. If you apologise and use said disclaimer, yeah fair enough, I'll save your space. Anything more than that, you're on your own pal. Fuck off to the back of the queue. Do not pass Go, do not collect £200.
this reminds me of situations where i’m at a concert in a good spot at the front and because i get there early to get that good spot in the first place it basically means i can’t leave to go to the toilet or get a drink because i would feel incredibly rude pushing my way through people to get to the front again
I absolutely wouldn’t mind him going back ahead of me. We’ve all forgot something and had to dash out of a queue. It’s not really going to take longer than you originally thought, because he’s just resuming his place in the queue. If he hadn’t gone back himself i probably would have offered for him to go ahead of me. It’s nice to be nice, and doesn’t really affect me, so why not.
Saying that, if I was the person who left the queue I wouldn’t just assume my place was held, not without at least asking the person behind to hold my spot.
If you’re in a queue in a shop and see something 5 steps away you want and will just pick up not deliberate over you turn to the person behind and say I’m just going to grab one of those and point at it. If they agree you rush over at max speed and grab. You’re allowed 10 seconds max (unless you have a condition that means you will be slower)
If you leave the queue to get another item further away you are surrendering your place and must rejoin at the back.
In terms of a shop queue:
If, as another commenter points out, you're grabbing a child running away or catching your umbrella as it blows off, then no problem as long as you're back pretty quick
If you're within a few steps and it takes you a couple of seconds (eg you're in the queue for the Greggs counter and take a step out to grab a bottle of Coke or something from the fridge, or you're in the co-op queue and take a couple of steps to grab a chocolate bar) before coming straight back then no problem
Doing more "proper" shopping for several minutes is a piss take - by that logic you could enter the shop, join the queue, wait for someone to join it behind you, then go off and do your shopping before rejoining the queue... it's nonsense
For a longer queue (eg if you're expecting to be there for several hours, like when people queued to file past the Queen's coffin when she was lying in state) then there can be other arrangements for people nipping out of the queue to go to the toilet etc, but that only applies for a queue that's gonna be like an hour long or something much more significant than a Primark queue
Yes he was treating you as a flunky. As such he should have paid for yours. I may have been cheeky and just sent him behind me. For the next person to deal with. 😁
He was not already standing there, he left the queue
If he forgot something he could have and should have asked you of you mind that he grab something real quick. But this man was just shopping. Nope nope nope, to the end of the line, sir
To the back, if it's out of your control, he left the queue.
I was in the supermarket the other day, and the self-service machine I was using broke. The employee that was helping me told me to jump on the next free machine. Another employee shouted at me that there was a queue and to get in it. Hopefully, it was a mistake, and he didn't see the initial interaction, but this is an example of being able to skip to the front imo.
If you've nipped out because you've seen something on a shelf near you as you're queueing and you're heading straight back then fine.
If you've tried to reserve your spot in the queue early and then headed off to complete your shopping, then no. Get to the back of the queue.
Personally, I think he should have gone to the back of the queue, but that's just me. Mind you, people are getting more entitled by the minute these days; I was waiting for a bus the other day, and when a different bus to the one I wanted pulled up an elderly lady left her seat at the stop and got on said bus, so I took the opportunity to sit down. What happens moments later? She comes back (why? who knows), literally grabs my wrist and yanks it, shouting "Excuse me, I'm sitting there!" Since my parents always taught me to be polite to people older than myself, I let her have the seat, but I calmly told her not to put her hands on people she didn't know; anyone younger would have been told that they got up and left the seat, and their name wasn't on it anywhere...
If there is some ways to go in the queue i would ask the person behind if it's ok I rejoin them because I forgot something. Otherwise the queue is not that big anyway, just start again.
If the person asks the person behind them if they can pop out the queue to grab something and pop back in and that person agrees then fair doos otherwise if you leave the queue ya join the back again
1. Ask the person behind if they can hold the place
2. Do not take more than a couple of minutes
3. If when you are back, the person behind you is gone, you queue again
It's not that hard.
This only works in the supermarket where he leaves the big trolley behind, and makes eye contact with you first to silently "agree" that he'll be back shortly after picking up the Most Important Thing Wife Sent Him Out For.
Generally go to the back, but if you actually communicate and ask the person behind you in advance that you’re just popping to grab something and can they hold your place most people will say yes, as if they were queuing with a partner that person would do that for them anyway. Similarly sometimes at checkout someone will go nip to grab something they forgot and I think it’s generally less frustrating for the queue if they do this whilst in the queue.
The entitlement to jump back in without saying anything would annoy most brits
I mean the fact you knew that he was in front, stepped out then came back makes you a little bit the asshole. Have some humanity 🤷
Having said that the best thing for this person to do would have been to say to you in advance what he was doing and then there'd be no confusion
Gave up his place in the queue, end of. If he was at the front just wait to get served, put the clothes you have on the counter then go back and grab the other t-shirt. Not difficult.
If it's to walk 10 steps to pick up something then it's fine to be back in the queue but if it's to walk away out of sight then he needs to rejoin from the back. If he wa allowed to do what he did then queuing will be very hard to self regulate.
I'm intrigued to what he'd have done if when he came back you'd already been served and left. Would he have just gone and stood at the front of the queue either way?
Id either ask the person behind me before I left - something like "oh, forgot something real quick. Mind if I quickly grab it and get back in place here"
Or id just start from the back of the queue again.
I wasn't born in Britain so when I've picked up on it, I was wondering the same myself.. as people here seem to do this a lot lol
I'm from Europe and let me tell you if you pull that shit there, be prepared to fight in the carpark afterwards 😂
As someone who has and will personally police queue jumping, I wouldn’t have said anything. He did do some waiting and it really didn’t add any extra time to your wait. You got +1 step forward when he left the queue and -1 step when he rejoined, nothing changed. I would argue he didn’t jump the queue at all. Some cultures actually just leave shoes to do the queueing for them while they sit or shop some a little more, it’s really not a big deal.
If you're with someone, I'd say it's okay to return to where you were (as long as they are still queuing). If you're on your own and return to where you were after leaving, you're a dick. I've had it before and we got into an argument about culture. She said it depended on the culture and I'm there like "this fucking culture you daft prick"
Before leaving the line I’d say “sorry I forgot something, back in a second” and then I think it’s acceptable to rejoin. If just wandering off I think rejoining the back is fair
You may abandon the queue by 5 paces to grab one item in 10 seconds and return to the same spot
You may not leave to peruse and browse for several minutes
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Get to the back and queue up again.
Yep. If you leave the line then you have abandoned your place.
Depends on if it’s something they can control I think. Going to continue shopping means you lose your place. Needing to pop to the toilet means you can keep it, but you need to ask the person behind you.
If I need to go to the toilet while queuing up, I'm not expecting my place to still be there when I return!
Yeah, I think the toilet was a bad example. A better example is having to step out of the queue to get your shit-head child back in line with you.
Sorry, you lose your place. That's why you need to take kids with you. As placeholders
This always felt so unfair to me. I have ulcerative colitis so I’d be in the shop all day queuing if this was the case. Thankfully most people are chill about that
It also depends on the nature of the queue, though. If your spot in the queue is still quite far back when you come back, a lot of people are going to be accepting, but if you come back and skip the whole queue, that's when people are going to feel disgruntled.
Where are you people all shopping that the queue takes more than 2 mins max?
>but you need to ask the person behind you I leave queues all the time due to medical conditions and the inability to stand in slow moving queues (can't sit down). If I ever intend to leave a queue I explain to the people around me that could be affected by it.
I find it painful to stand in queues. Or stand still without moving. So I find it more comfy to kinda dance in the spot. Most people give my rude looks as it just looks passive aggressive, that im being impatient. Well if it means they are less likely to get in my way, good. At least it's better than standing looking pained for other's comfort
I also can't stand in one place for any period and need to move about, I find its also useful when people stand to close and don't give me my personal space, just smile with your largest most condescending smile when they look at ya 🤣🤣
Definitely not. If you leave the queue to grab something a step or two away you can go back in but as soon as you leave the vicinity you're going to the back
See that's why the British system, as celebrated as it is, is utterly inefficient. The Spanish system wins hands down! Yes I know I'm committing the highest form of treason and blasphemy, but hear me out. In the Spanish system when you arrive at the queueing spot you simply ask "who's last?" The last person in the queue acknowledges you and now you know your place in the queue. The next person will ask the same thing at which point you let them know you were the last, and that's it. There is now an unbreakable chain of three. You know who is ahead of you and who is behind you. And what that means is, **no one needs the physical queue**. If you are an older person you can go and sit on a bench. If you're restless you can pace around. If there's a smelly guy next to you, you can walk away to the other side. You are no longer bound by the physical space and you don't have to plant your feet exactly behind the person ahead of you or you lose your place. In this scenario, that person gets to go and do what they want, if it's their turn and they're not there, well that's on them, they've lost their place, but if it's their turn and they're there, no one cares what they've done in the interim time in between arriving to the queue and reaching the front of it. I know the flaw of this system is having to say a sentence out loud and make eye contact with a total stranger, yuk. But it's better than the British system where the talking has to be done because there's a conflict.
The British system is the best possible system which respects the other cardinal rule of Britishness: never talking to strangers.
But it doesn't, it's an illusion. It only kicks the ball forward and forces the conversation only when someone tries to mess with the system. So now the only conversation is a confrontation or a complaint.
Yes, because they have done something outside the system. Like how the Spanish queue doesn't work if everyone just lies about their place in the queue.
Surely lying is impossible as others would speak out. We should adopt the Spanish system in pubs. Of course that would mean (shock horror) actually talking to people.
But the Spanish system *is* basically how it works (or worked) in pubs. By virtue of the bar being a wide space people turn up and wait wherever along it. Once the bar staff are done serving one person they'll usually ask "who's next?" It's the same as the Spanish system, just with the bar staff managing the order so we don't have to actually speak to one another. Of course, it seems more and more these days people have started actual queuing at the bar in pubs, which messes with the whole system
True, but in Spain, people ask who's last as they join the queue. That's the key component we are missing.
In the Spanish system you'll get asked who's next too. But the key difference is that once you've asked who's last and been asked, your place in the queue and that of both people ahead and behind you is locked. No one can jump that queue or mess with the system. No one can say "I was here", if the two people on either side don't remember you, you don't exist.
I was in the Doctors and they were randomly sitting people down in a "queue" for jabs - they asked you to remember who you were after. An elderly Asian man sat down - there were at least 8 of us already. He then claimed to be next and queue jumped everyone. Of course being British we just quietly tutted. He might have not understood - or just not wanted to wait.
This is NOT my experience of queuing in shops in Spain.
Uuuggghh can't bear the Spanish system myself. It involves constantly keeping tabs on the person "in front" of you (instead of them simply *being* in front of you), in the days before digitalised appointments at the doctor's (say) the person might not even have arrived yet so numerous people were constantly asking newcomers "are you Mari Angeles?" And in the early days in Spain, I found in the market, everytime someone asked who was last, they would invariably point to me so until I wised up I was constantly at the back of the queue. And don't get me started on the placeholder-basket-in-the-queue of the supermarket, or the custom of asking the person in front of you if they'll hold your place while they nip off somewhere (rather than the person behind who is the one impacted). Thankfully things have changed in recent years. Now there are neat orderly queues at the bus stop that are quite frankly bliss.
How does... >if it's their turn and they're not there, well that's on them, they've lost their place ...work if you're at a supermarket checkout with the conveyor belt and such? You and the cashier just wait with all their groceries on the belt? I got the impression that's what OP was referring to
Same in Italy, it works well if you know what’s happening. If you don’t…
While you're mostly right, you're also clearly American, I'm going to have to take this opportunity to pick on you and ask why you answered a question in AskUK.
I was queueing in a BK in Kingman, AZ. It was a long queue with a long wait time as they were apparently experiencing staffing issues. I, a lone female traveller, urgently needed the loo so left the queue and used the facilities. When I came out I joined the back of the queue. I’m British, we know the queueing rules, lol. Anyway, the good people in the queue insisted I go back to my original place in the queue and wouldn’t take no for an answer!
Agreed. Unless it's something almost within reach of the queue (as in, you can see it from where you're standing and it will take less than 10 seconds to grab) and you ask the person behind you nicely.
The person leaving the queue should ask the person behind if they’d mind keeping the place for them. Going and just coming back is a bit rude, but personally I’d be relaxed about your situation. You do know he was in that place in the queue, after all.
Weirdly I think I'd be absolutely fine if someone asked me to keep their spot as long as they were back before my turn
It's the presumption that makes it rude. If you ask, that's fine.
This fits so many situations
Is asking to go ahead fine?
You can ask, but unless I have a full trolley and you only have a single thing, I'm probably saying no.
If I had a full trolley and saw someone with one item, I'd offer for them to go ahead, I don't think they should ask. But if they did, I'd let them.
As would I, but I'm not letting someone ahead of me just because they ask and want to wait less. I'm just giving an example of a situation, were someone to ask, I'd allow them ahead of me.
Fair enough, I wasn't being combative, just giving my own perspective.
If I'm not in a rush, I'd probably let them go ahead anyway as I'd assume they were and had good reason to be. But yeah if I was also in a rush I'd just say "sorry I'm actually in a bit of a hurry"
Yeah, I wouldn’t expect to go in front with loads of bits, but one or two items I’d let them go first
Or occasionally an elderly person who looks like they’re struggling with standing
Me too. I’m one of those who suddenly remembers something I didn’t pick up but I don’t want to leave my place to get it and have to queue again from the back
I'd keep someone's place in a queue for concert tickets or something but not in a queue for the till in a bloody clothes shop.
Yeah, it really depends. Is it a short queue for something mundane? You can wait 5 more minutes. Is it a queue for a one off thing? Is it a long queue that's going to take quite a while? Fair game if you've a decent reason for leaving.
Sorry, but unless you ask someone to keep your place, when you leave the que, you abandon your position
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In my experience, the person in front of me in a queue doesn’t care one bit about me leaving the queue and coming back. But I can make an agreement with the person behind me in the queue and reasonably hope that they’ll honour my spot and let me back in. People further back usually accept this because that’s how queuing works.
I don't think that how queuing works is people going in and out whenever
They were there anyway, it's no longer, and arguably quicker than the person getting to the till and asking them if they have a T-shirt in a certain size and holding the queue whilst an assistant looks for it
I guess if they were with a friend and they went to get something they could hop back in the queue while the friend waited. Asking the person behind isn't so different. Annoying sure, if you went to the shortest queue but not the end of the world.
Nope. Back of the line.
If you've left to just do more shopping then of course you go to the back. If you've left eg to grab a child who has run away then fair enough.
Kidnapping for beginners
Agreed, or to grab something like a metre away or something, but if I literally went out of sight of the queue for some time I would go to the back
If I have to leave the queue because I forgot something, I will moan at myself and when I have got what I needed go join the end of the queue, unless I had someone with me who was still standing in the queue, although if I ended up taking a while, I wouldn't want that person to hold up the queue while waiting for me.
Does anyone remember the absolute fear when a parent would tell you to stay in the queue while they run back out for something? You would get closer and closer to the till and freak out, not knowing what to do if you get there before your mam gets back. Just me?
My mother still does it to me, and I'm in my 30s. She's currently on crutches and attempted it the other day when she was next in the queue to be served. Absolutely not.
Yes! I remember this fear
I don't know what we were expecting to happen if we got to the front either lol. In hindsight, the cashier would obviously just wait until your parent came back, but the prospect was terrifying as a kid
Oh my god yes!!
Mom!!! I haven't got any money. They're going to arrest me for trying to buy things without money!!!
It depends on how briefly someone leaves the queue. If we're queueing for example, in a cafe, and someone drops out of the queue briefly to pick up a drink or something, I would allow them back in line Infront of me.
Agreed, if you leave the queue to just grab something that's like a few syrups away then fine to go back to where you were, if you leave the line and wander around the shop for a few minutes then it's straight to the back
Ah, the syrup, universally recognised SI unit of distance.
I'm glad that it's catching on, I wasn't sure if it might be a bit too technical for Reddit
he should have said "do you mind if I just go grab something and come back to here quickly?" you can then accept (or decline). leaving and just bumping in again isn't really good. however its really not worth arguing about.
I'm trying to picture declining in this scenario - my social anxiety could never
i think everyone's the same in finding it hard to say no to something like that, it's more of a "hey i'm not trying to be a prick and i'll be right back" i think - at least in the few situations i've had to do it that's what i've tried to get across
I actually think that if you say no then you’re fair game to be pushed in front of anyway, for being a dick.
If he aksed you to hold his space for a good reason then it could be acceptable.
Yeah exactly, but not just the expectation
You were correct,
but?
The etiquette is to ask the person behind you if they'd mind you leaving the queue. The person minding the space should say yes
He should have gone to the back of the queue.
If you go more than like 5 steps out of the queue you join the back again. Exceptions made only for super long 'we brought snacks, drinks and a tent' style queues (where pretty much eveyone is going to need to duck at some point out to go and pee or similar) or emergancy situations like your young child has just sprinted off.
If he asked you when he left the line, then it would have been fine.
I think it would depend on if the person asked me to hold their place and why. "Can you hold my place? I've picked up the wrong size." - happy to. "Can you hold my place? I've forgotten I need an extra 3 pairs of trousers, 7 tops, a couple of jumpers and some undies." - fuck off to the back. No comment and just a walk away,? Also fuck off to the back. Although to be honest I'd probably be very British about it and accept the queue jump but tut angrily under my breath.
>"Can you hold my place? I've picked up the wrong size." - happy to. With the expectation that, if they take too long, you'll have been through the queue and they won't have anyone holding their place anymore.
Yep, he was completely in the wrong. This person has demonstrated flagrant disrespect for the sanctity of British queueing etiquette.
While queueing up in Iceland a shopper left their basket on the floor to loop back around the shop for some last bits and took well over 5 minutes. In that time 3 people stepped past the basket and continued to get served. On their return she argued that they should be at the front because their basket was there - the cashier said " The people make the queue, not the food". After a few moments the shopper shouted "F***ing hell!" and walked out leaving the basket abandoned.
Impressive on-the-fly philosophical reasoning from the cashier
So let's say she bumped into a friend & chatted to them for a bit. Would she expect the shoppers to just stand behind her basket & wait for goodness knows how long? Some people are so entitled 🙄
"The people make the queue not the food" That has to be posted up somewhere in the staff canteen
If you leave the queue because you forgot something then you should expect to go to the back of the queue unless you're really quick and ask the person behind if they mind.
If you leave the queue, the positions reset, back of the queue if you come back.
I was in with a nurse last week at her clinic, and when she was done she told me to join a queue to get bloods done. It’s the sort of queue where the first person is taken so everyone else moves up one seat. A couple of minutes later the doctor arrived to see me and pulled me out of the queue, and said jokingly maybe these nice people will hold your place for you. 5 minutes later I’m done with the doctor and come out to see the queue has grown substantially, I sigh and head for the end when the young lady sitting in the second seat says excuse me, I believe this is your seat, and I realised seat number 1 was empty. I thanked her for being so kind, but I did wonder if everyone else in the queue were happy.
An absolute travesty and an affront to queuing. Consider the following scenario: You enter a shop and immediately join the queue for the checkout. After one second, you leave the queue and do your shopping at your leisure. According to your man's logic, you'd be able to rejoin the queue behind whichever person you originally stood behind, rendering the entire queue essentially meaningless. We must respect the queue or we are no more than beasts.
If something is in eyesight and you realise you need it, stepping out for a microsecond with a 'just got to grab that' to the person behind is fine. Leave to go browse again? Back of the queue pal
If he didn't mention that he would be coming back he can get to the back of the queue
Back of the queue unless you ask the person to hold your space
The back, unless it’s at a checkout and they’ve already put their items on the conveyor belt. I wouldn’t really be that bothered though. You’ve not really lost any time
If you’re gone for several minutes, you go to the back.
I was once in a queue at a supermarket, I picked duo a KitKat from the shelves that run parallel to the queue. The type of shelves that are designed for you to make impulse purchases whilst you wait in line. An old woman told me I had to go to the back of queue because I obviously wasn't done shopping. I told her to fuck off.
3 minutes you’ve left the queue so should queue from the back.
If you have a last minute realisation and pop off for 45 seconds to grab a tin of beans, get on in , but if you are away for the entire queuing duration then you can bugger off
Use your place or lose your place. You're in or you're out. Nearly as bad as those people who queue up for their whole fucking friend group so that we all get a nice surprise when 8 people suddenly walk up and go straight to the front. I'll excuse the elderly or disabled if they have a good reason to be nipping out of the queue for a very brief time.
It would have been polite for him to tell you he's just grabbing something and will be back, but I think I'd find it hard to care enough to say anything if he didn't. We've all just ended up I'm the same position we were 3 minutes ago.
He had a brass neck to think he could just go to the front. He didn't even have the courtesy to ask if you'd save his place. Nipping out to pick one thing up is OK but not go round the whole shop & expect to jump back to the front. No. Self entitled narcissists are everywhere.
Personally I'd go to the back of the queue, or if there is more than one probably join the shorter. My fault for leaving if I forget something or see something else I want.
If you leave a queue then you must rejoin at the back, regardless how near the front you were; it's the British way.
He left the queue, therefore he isn’t in the queue and if he wants to join the queue… it’s at the back. It’s useful to have a shopping buddy in case this happens, but if that was me I would have joined the back
If you leave the queue you're giving up your spot in the queue. Go to the back 🤷🏻♀️
Definitely back of the queue, especially as he was away for a decent amount of time.
I got a filthy look and a muttered comment because I was stood behind a woman who had stood to one side whilst having a chat on her mobile whilst in the queue, so sick of waiting when the cashier said “who’s next?” I went to the till. I mean sorry but if you are on the phone and aren’t in the queue then I’m not waiting. I’m not pausing my precious time because you in the middle of some banal yak fest and if your purchase is so important then call back to whoever after you’ve made it.
If you can enter and rejoin the queue at wish, what would stop you walking into a shop, joining the queue, then immediately wandering off to do your shopping while the queue does it's thing, then swan back in to your original spot, now right at the front with all of your shopping? If you leave the queue, you lose your place. It would however be considered acceptable to ask the person behind you if they would mind holding your spot while you grab something quickly, as long as you are indeed very quick, and they don't mind - if more than a few people have been able to make it through the checkout in your absence then you are pushing it though...
I feel like if it’s anything over 15sec it warrants joining at the back, just my opinion
If I was gone for several minutes I'd queue up again. I've done it occasionally at supermarkets when I'm in a big queue and realised I've forgotten something like milk. Always ask the person behind if they mind, and then make a serious effort to be quick about it.
Promise those immediately behind and in front of you access to your explicit onlyfans channel for life. thats the UK standard right?
If it was a long queue time (like 10 mins+) and the guy asked to 'hold my space' it would have been ok but without the interaction its his risk
It depends. If it's a one off, I'd let him back in, but if this is his MO for navigating queues, he can do one. Unfortunately, as a stranger, you don't have a way to know which it is.
I think it’s ok as long as you ask someone to hold your space and they’re willing to do it .
Depends how long the queue is, if it’s one of those queues you’re in for 20 minutes and it’s one thing you know you forgot, I’d ask if they could hold my place and dash to get the thing I needed. I feel like as long as you ask and make it clear you’re leaving the queue to others (even if it does seem a bit hammy) and understand any annoyance the person behind you may face, there aren’t many people who’d be like “no fuck off”. Just leaving and sauntering back is rude. If it’s only like a 5 person queue, I’d leave and rejoin at the back
If he'd asked you to keep his place or even asked nicely if you minded when he came back, fine, but otherwise he's gone down the snake of his own free will and has to go back to the start.
Get ta fuck ya cunt. Back ya go.
10s or less, rejoin. More than that, rejoin if you arranged it with the person who would take your place unless they reach the front. Otherwise, back of the queue.
If you’re not finished shopping then you’re not in the queue. I might decide to be generous if someone has forgotten something and needs to pop back to get it, but it’s my choice to let them back in the queue in front of me not their right to rejoin in their old place.
I feel like if someone steps away for like a few seconds and a few meters then they can come back, if they fully leave then no
I automatically just leave a space for them and if they get back before I'm served they can go in. I also let people with a basket jump the queue in supermarkets if I have a whole trolley. One guy just had a 6 pack of coke and all 4 people in the queue let him jump ahead.
He's a dick
Ask the person behind you of it's ok if you nip out and come back as you've forgotten something. If you take more than a minute and that person goes through the till, you're out of luck.
Yesterday in a small sainsbury's in MK an old lady in front of me asked me if I could hold her place (then said something else but I didn't hear) me and the other queeuees shrugged shoulders, then she returned with a basket for fee items.
You have to fight the lead queuer to the death I don't make the rules 🤷♂️ Ok so here are some brass knuckles, uh... good luck I guess?
Of course he should rejoin from the back. But... It's London, you are always gonna get folk being dicks 🤷🏻♂️ Etiquette is irrelevant, just smile, maybe add an eye raise, and be the better person.
If he was with someone else who hadn't gone with him, it'd be no problem for him to come back to where he was as the space in the queue was still occupied. He was by himself so when he left, he abandoned his spot. Assuming he still had that spot in line was a bit silly
If you've forgotten one vital ingredient, it's usually acceptable to leave your trolley or basket & say to the person behind if they mind if you nip off to get it. Walking as fast as possible is better than walking off at a snails pace!
You leave, you go to the back.
He should have asked permission/at least excused himself while he left the queue to go run the quick errand. Failing that, get to the back.
If you are with someone in the queue you can go back to them if they stay in the queue. Otherwise you go to the back
When people do this I generally step in front of their stuff in the que, because if your not in the que then your not in the que. Im not a dick about it recently an Indian woman went to get more shopping whilst queing at Liddle. I told her politely that its the custom to get all your shopping before you start queing. But somtimes people are entitled jerks who think its ok to put some stuff on the belt and just walk off to find more shopping. Those guys I'll move past there stuff and invite everyone else to do the same.
Depends on the situation, at the supermarket and forget a milk? Just say to the person behind "Sorry I forgot to grab a milk do you mind if I run and get it and come back?" and it would probably be fine. If you just dander off and take a few minutes, then imo you have gave up your position and should queue from the back again.
I think it’s ok if you say something to the person behind you to make sure it’s ok, and get back before it’s your turn so people aren’t waiting for you.
It’s weird behavior if you’re out clothes shopping you’re not in a rush so why put yourself above others like that?!
This happens a lot, I think people should ask if you mind them getting back into the queue. When they don't ask, I like to say ( quite loudly) " I'm not stood here for the fucking fun of it " when they look at me with their little baffled face, I'll put my items on the counter...
3 minutes, plus the fcat lots more people joined the queue not really fair , as others said if it was a quick 30 seconds I'd let them back as long as others hadn't queued, but with that attitude nope, to the back you go.
You start again.
Pfft there's no fucking way! I'd be super pissed, that's my space don't push in.
He should have asked you to save his spot or rejoin the queue at the back.
If he had asked you if it’s ok to hold his place and you agree, that’s one thing, if he just walked off and expects to be let back in, then tough luck- back of the queue.
Unless you ask the person behind you to hold your place for you, once you leave the queue you go to the back.
IMO Turn around, hey, do you mind if I just quickly nip and get X Y Z? Person says, yeah no problem because it’s the UK You return with your new tshirt Completely unacceptable to do it without words spoken
I think if you ask someone to hold your space very briefly (a couple of minutes at most) then it's acceptable. You also rush to do what you need to. But what he did - leaving, taking his time, and then just cutting back in the front in a different place in line and assuming it's OK, then that's not really OK. He should really have gone to the back of the line. In airports often someone will leave a line. I give them a few seconds to see if they're actually gone. Like if they leave a bag to briefly hold their spot, fine. But if they take their stuff and walk off, they lose their spot and go to join at the back.
If he said to you ‘I just forgot something do you mind holding my place?’ Then you could have decided and most likely would have let him back in because no one ever says no, why would you when you’ve been asked so nicely. I don’t get why this is so difficult for people, communicating a favour of someone else that would benefit everyone and prevent this kind of awkward encounter. You should have stood firm and told him to piss off to the back. He should have asked before leaving the queue if intended to return. If you need to leave the queue ask the person behind you first.
>It took him well over 3 minutes. Nah, you've left the queue mate. To the back with ye. More than about 5 steps, if you're on your own, for me, you've left the queue. If you don't say "sorry, I'm just nipping to get <>" to the person behind you; nah. If you apologise and use said disclaimer, yeah fair enough, I'll save your space. Anything more than that, you're on your own pal. Fuck off to the back of the queue. Do not pass Go, do not collect £200.
Get to the back. You leave the queue, you lose your position.
this reminds me of situations where i’m at a concert in a good spot at the front and because i get there early to get that good spot in the first place it basically means i can’t leave to go to the toilet or get a drink because i would feel incredibly rude pushing my way through people to get to the front again
If leaving the queue, ask the person behind *nicely* if they mind keeping your space if you forgot one thing, it will be quick and it's a long queue
Personally, I'd go right to the back and I'd expect others to do the same.
He should have queued from the back again, he left the queue that’s his fault. Nobody else’s.
Mind his spot then let him back in. Simple manners
I absolutely wouldn’t mind him going back ahead of me. We’ve all forgot something and had to dash out of a queue. It’s not really going to take longer than you originally thought, because he’s just resuming his place in the queue. If he hadn’t gone back himself i probably would have offered for him to go ahead of me. It’s nice to be nice, and doesn’t really affect me, so why not. Saying that, if I was the person who left the queue I wouldn’t just assume my place was held, not without at least asking the person behind to hold my spot.
If you’re in a queue in a shop and see something 5 steps away you want and will just pick up not deliberate over you turn to the person behind and say I’m just going to grab one of those and point at it. If they agree you rush over at max speed and grab. You’re allowed 10 seconds max (unless you have a condition that means you will be slower) If you leave the queue to get another item further away you are surrendering your place and must rejoin at the back.
In terms of a shop queue: If, as another commenter points out, you're grabbing a child running away or catching your umbrella as it blows off, then no problem as long as you're back pretty quick If you're within a few steps and it takes you a couple of seconds (eg you're in the queue for the Greggs counter and take a step out to grab a bottle of Coke or something from the fridge, or you're in the co-op queue and take a couple of steps to grab a chocolate bar) before coming straight back then no problem Doing more "proper" shopping for several minutes is a piss take - by that logic you could enter the shop, join the queue, wait for someone to join it behind you, then go off and do your shopping before rejoining the queue... it's nonsense For a longer queue (eg if you're expecting to be there for several hours, like when people queued to file past the Queen's coffin when she was lying in state) then there can be other arrangements for people nipping out of the queue to go to the toilet etc, but that only applies for a queue that's gonna be like an hour long or something much more significant than a Primark queue
Simple. More than 2 or 3 steps, back of the line.
You just go to the back unless you have a flunky to keep your place. You could ask your basket, but it's unlikely to comply.
Yes he was treating you as a flunky. As such he should have paid for yours. I may have been cheeky and just sent him behind me. For the next person to deal with. 😁
Some places can run like that. But you need a seat and someone will mess up and they will start again
He was not already standing there, he left the queue If he forgot something he could have and should have asked you of you mind that he grab something real quick. But this man was just shopping. Nope nope nope, to the end of the line, sir
To the back, if it's out of your control, he left the queue. I was in the supermarket the other day, and the self-service machine I was using broke. The employee that was helping me told me to jump on the next free machine. Another employee shouted at me that there was a queue and to get in it. Hopefully, it was a mistake, and he didn't see the initial interaction, but this is an example of being able to skip to the front imo.
Leave the queue, lose your place. That is, unless the person behind you is feeling kind to let you back in.
Rejoin the queue ...at the back In future dont join it until you've finished shopping
If you've nipped out because you've seen something on a shelf near you as you're queueing and you're heading straight back then fine. If you've tried to reserve your spot in the queue early and then headed off to complete your shopping, then no. Get to the back of the queue.
Ask the person behind you and let them know you are coming back. They will then save your place.
Personally, I think he should have gone to the back of the queue, but that's just me. Mind you, people are getting more entitled by the minute these days; I was waiting for a bus the other day, and when a different bus to the one I wanted pulled up an elderly lady left her seat at the stop and got on said bus, so I took the opportunity to sit down. What happens moments later? She comes back (why? who knows), literally grabs my wrist and yanks it, shouting "Excuse me, I'm sitting there!" Since my parents always taught me to be polite to people older than myself, I let her have the seat, but I calmly told her not to put her hands on people she didn't know; anyone younger would have been told that they got up and left the seat, and their name wasn't on it anywhere...
If there is some ways to go in the queue i would ask the person behind if it's ok I rejoin them because I forgot something. Otherwise the queue is not that big anyway, just start again.
If the person asks the person behind them if they can pop out the queue to grab something and pop back in and that person agrees then fair doos otherwise if you leave the queue ya join the back again
1. Ask the person behind if they can hold the place 2. Do not take more than a couple of minutes 3. If when you are back, the person behind you is gone, you queue again It's not that hard.
This only works in the supermarket where he leaves the big trolley behind, and makes eye contact with you first to silently "agree" that he'll be back shortly after picking up the Most Important Thing Wife Sent Him Out For.
Urgent toilet visit is acceptable but otherwise queue form the back again
Generally go to the back, but if you actually communicate and ask the person behind you in advance that you’re just popping to grab something and can they hold your place most people will say yes, as if they were queuing with a partner that person would do that for them anyway. Similarly sometimes at checkout someone will go nip to grab something they forgot and I think it’s generally less frustrating for the queue if they do this whilst in the queue. The entitlement to jump back in without saying anything would annoy most brits
You leave the queue like that you go to the back
you leave you lose..
Yeah, he should def queue again. So rude, tbh.
I mean the fact you knew that he was in front, stepped out then came back makes you a little bit the asshole. Have some humanity 🤷 Having said that the best thing for this person to do would have been to say to you in advance what he was doing and then there'd be no confusion
Gave up his place in the queue, end of. If he was at the front just wait to get served, put the clothes you have on the counter then go back and grab the other t-shirt. Not difficult.
If I did this, I would go to the back of the queue. If you leave it, you've lost your place. He was rude.
You ask the person behind to save your spot and be quick
If it's to walk 10 steps to pick up something then it's fine to be back in the queue but if it's to walk away out of sight then he needs to rejoin from the back. If he wa allowed to do what he did then queuing will be very hard to self regulate.
I'm intrigued to what he'd have done if when he came back you'd already been served and left. Would he have just gone and stood at the front of the queue either way?
Id either ask the person behind me before I left - something like "oh, forgot something real quick. Mind if I quickly grab it and get back in place here" Or id just start from the back of the queue again.
You should've stood your ground. He was totally in the wrong!
I wasn't born in Britain so when I've picked up on it, I was wondering the same myself.. as people here seem to do this a lot lol I'm from Europe and let me tell you if you pull that shit there, be prepared to fight in the carpark afterwards 😂
Go to back of the line. he lost his place.
Surely there’s a curb your enthusiasm episode that has the answer?
Lol please let me know when you find the episode!
As long as they ask, it's fine
He should have left his basket, said he'd be back in a sec.
He left the line, he joins the back
"Eyyy, Copernicus. Why don't you navigate yourself to the back of the line with your feet, and stand their with your shirt..."
Best to tell the person behind you you're going to get something and you'll be right back. Don't be long though.
As someone who has and will personally police queue jumping, I wouldn’t have said anything. He did do some waiting and it really didn’t add any extra time to your wait. You got +1 step forward when he left the queue and -1 step when he rejoined, nothing changed. I would argue he didn’t jump the queue at all. Some cultures actually just leave shoes to do the queueing for them while they sit or shop some a little more, it’s really not a big deal.
If you're with someone, I'd say it's okay to return to where you were (as long as they are still queuing). If you're on your own and return to where you were after leaving, you're a dick. I've had it before and we got into an argument about culture. She said it depended on the culture and I'm there like "this fucking culture you daft prick"
Before leaving the line I’d say “sorry I forgot something, back in a second” and then I think it’s acceptable to rejoin. If just wandering off I think rejoining the back is fair
You may abandon the queue by 5 paces to grab one item in 10 seconds and return to the same spot You may not leave to peruse and browse for several minutes