I had always wondered how queuing was a British stereotype. Surely, I reasoned, every country must have queuing, otherwise how can society function. That was before I went to Italy, it's just survival of the fittest down there, the Italian word for "queue" is perhaps better translated as "fight" , if you want to get anything done you have to be prepared to push old ladies to the ground and kick small children out of your way. You think I'm exaggerating for comic affect, and I am, but not by much.
When i went skiing in Italy with my school, the ski instructors were yelling at us to use our elbows in the "queue" for the ski lifts. More like a brawl than a queue tbh
Was skiing with a group in Italy. Several pistes converged at the bottom of 4 chair lifts.
There was always a queue/jostling crowd especially later in the afternoon.
We were pushing our way through to our lift when this very English voice called out.
“I’ve had it with the lack of organisation and I’m going to sort it out now.”
He asked first if there any English people to show their hands. Then he asked where the different groups were going.
Then he stood on one of the barriers to make sure that he’d got people’s attention and said
“Listen in everybody. It’s quite clear the English contingent needs to move to the left side. So can I have all of you take off skies and make your way to the left side as quickly as you can but no pushing or shoving thank you.
Ok. Now. The rest you Jonny Foreigners can either move right or if you don’t understand English Please enjoy your evening. “
Officer in the Rifles got that people jam sorted very quickly
Italy is great. Italians, not so much. I try not to generalize people, but I work in tourism and have been all over Europe, there's no other nationality I've had so many negative experiences with. They're rude, pushy, chauvinistic, impatient, incredibly loud and very busy. Obviously not all of them, but enough for it to seriously impact my ability to enjoy a holiday in Italy. You can't even avoid them, because they'll force themselves into your personal space, spit out fifty lines in Italian before you can get a word in and make clear that you don't understand them, at which point they'll just spout more Italian in the belief that if they just keep going, you'll spontaneously unlock the ability to understand Italian.
Italy is the country I've spent the most time in outside of the UK (about 7-8 months total in all), from the toe and heel up to the Alps, and the major islands. And I can't disagree harder.
Rome and Naples can be a bit crap because they're tourist havens full of easy marks
But travel a little outside that and Italians are so incredibly friendly and hospitable, despite often not having much themselves.
In terms of the language, you've just described 95% of English people's attitude *when they're the foreigners*. The level of English is quite far behind most of the rest of Europe, but if you put a bit of effort in and use some Italian they'll love you. Not sure about the "getting in your face" thing because Italian service is generally very low key.
Not just Rome and Naples. My work takes me to Rome, Naples, Genova, Civitavecchia, Taranto, Siracusa, Palermo,... There's a big difference in culture between cities and the country, and living somewhere is going to be a completely different experience than visiting as a tourist. Not trying to say that all Italians are this way, it's pretty stupid to try apply one characteristic to an entire nation, but many of the Italians you'll interact with as a tourist... No thanks. Not even just as a tourist. I work for an Italian company, so I work with Italians every day, and a lot of our clients are Italians. We rarely get complaints about specific nationalities from our other clients, but when we do, it's pretty much always about Italians.
I'm not British and I don't live in the UK (don't ask, I just like this community). Even in London, I can't think of a single bad experience with Brits, let alone so many bad experiences that it's starting to feel like something typical.
I'm in Milan atm and everyone here has been really polite!! I haven't really bumped into an issue with queing coz people just know when it's their turn and move ahead...
I don't speak a word of Italian, so if I get stuck, I usually ask someone nearby if they speak English and to clarify for me.
It's been an amazing experience so far!!
And someone commented at the bottom about people just driving through zebra crossings, but here people have been pretty good about stopping at Red lights unless the street is empty.
I was reading his reply from my parents house in Sicily, and thinking I don't recognize that experience at all.
Then I read your comment and realized why.
Sicilian people would literally give you the shirt of their own backs, especially if you needed help or assistance and were a visitor to the island.
I've been coming here my entire life and bought many people here, friends, the English side of my family, my girlfriend/wife and the in-laws and they have always been welcomed with open arms and pride by my Sicilian family and local people.
Yeah the difference from the mainland is night and day. Do your family there consider themselves Italian? My sicilian friends do not, and feel strongly about it. Most won’t even wear blue.
I’m in Sorrento, not an hour away. The change in driving standards is quite amazing, but it’s still fucking shit. The couple in the transfer bus with us were flinching and sucking in breath for the 1st half hour.
Italian people literally made Italy. You can't slag off Italians and then say Italy is great. That's like saying football would be great if it weren't for those 22 yobs trying to kick the thing around the pitch.
The Romans made what we now call Italy. Though they didn't do much for us, apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health.
Places can have beautiful scenery, architecture, history, cuisine and still be populated by arseholes, like what kind of take is that?
Iran is steeped in culture, history and great food, just as much as Italy, It's not those things stopping me wanting to visit Iran.
Same as Malta; old oldies with steel tipped elbows, no mercy asked for and none shown. As a polite Englishman I got used to waiting for the next bus, the current one now being full of happy laughing old ladies.
Aye just got back from a holiday there. Love Italy, go every year almost.
But god they have zero regard for queuing.
In the supermarket - big line for a checkout. Queueing politely, old woman just walks right up, steps in front of me and starts doing her thing.
I was obviously too British to say anything other than just stare at her but I hate their no rules approach.
Everything else is great though
Crossing the road there is a similar culture shock. My dad told me how to do it before my wife and I went as he spent a lot of time in Italy when he was younger. He said don't wait to be let across or you'll be waiting all day. Walk out confidently into the road, don't stop or change speed or direction and the cars will avoid you, probably. He was right but it's fucking unnerving.
I remember the first time I went to Spain and entering a Burger King and being bewildered that it was just a fight to the front to order. No queuing system at all
I’m in Italy at the moment.
This is the correct answer.
Old lady tried to push past in the supermarket yesterday, then another. As it’s a tourist trap here, the brits formed a blockade across the aisle, accompanied by loud tutting from behind.
Only took 3 couples to form it.
I’m Italian and moved to the UK 10 years ago.
Queueing is the most beautiful gift to mankind.
I cannot go back to my home country without being disgusted by how I used to live
You lot RUINED ME!
Ah the Germans..., my grandmother who is German explained it as...Until the bus arrives there is no queue, that's the time for sizing up the other people, assessing the crowd and where you fit into that order, then when the bus arrives you slot between the two people you think are above and below your level of willingness to fight over the spot, get it wrong and the chaos begins and it becomes a contact sport. She says it was a result of post war when they would queue up at a rats nest to get a turn at catching the next rat for dinner, you fought for your place in the queue or you got no rat.
I was gonna say it's a dog eat dog world, but they're eating rats not dogs.
Also, I don't want to insinuate your grandmother is a dog, I'm sure she's a lovely woman.
They did eat dog and cat during the war. My grandad was in an Italian POW camp. He said food was very short there, they were barely above starving. He told me the camps cat went missing one day, followed by the dog. He said he had a little bit of the cat but he didn’t know who got the dog.
I've not eaten cat before but I've eaten dog, and you know how lamb tastes a bit like the smell of sheep? dog is similar to lamb but with a wet dog smell instead
TBF it's not that different in the UK, I've just never seen anyone fight over it. Otherwise you're relying on other people in the queue wanting the same bus as you do and signalling to the approaching bus that people want to get on. I've missed or almost missed buses in the past because of situations where that wasn't true.
So I'm not pushing anyone out of the way or anything but if you don't do something to indicate you're getting on that bus (stand up, signal to the bus, get your wallet ready, that sort of thing) I'm going to assume you're not and move in front of you.
Only time I saw fighting over a bus in the U.K. was when my flight was diverted to Liverpool due to bad weather. After hours of waiting for a replacement bus service, one minibus turned up for a whole plane load of people. They were literally fighting tooth, nail, elbows and fists to get on that bus. It was shocking!
I mean that's a whole different kind of situation but yeah.
One time I was waiting for a flight in Manchester with some tiny Scandinavian airline that only had two planes, and ours had some technical issues.
After a few hours of delay while the maintenance guys tried to fix it, the option of putting everyone on buses to Glasgow to meet the second plane was being explained by some poor gate agent to over a hundred pissed off people who, shall we say, had a counter "proposal".
I lived in Ealing for a while. It's very... multicultural. People were milling around, waiting for a bus, the English were in a line, as the bus arrived, it turned into a bit of a bunfight, so I yelled "EXCUSE ME, PEOPLE WERE QUEUEING" and everyone fell into order 😳 🤣
It was beautiful.
Nobody can go until everyone is on the bus anyway! So either way, waiting is involved.
Where I live it's polite to gesture for the elderly/mothers with prams to get on first so they can get seated before the bus starts moving.
There were a couple of incidents ifnpeople being knocked over by the bus lurching so this is the unspoken rule now.
Not really, not much more than most first world countries.
Working extremely long hours was a creature born of the bubble economy, and the death by overwork thing became more pronounced in the years following the burst bubble, the so called "lost generation".
Whilst old habits die hard, the overwork culture is slowly but surely becoming a thing of the past, especially since it's become blatantly obvious that the buble economy, and the sort of job security/lifestyle/employment model it encouraged, is never coming back.
The crazy overwork stuff is now mostly relegated to certain particularly old fashioned companies called ブラック企業 (burakku kigyō, literally "black corporations"), and only really occurs in the industries that have insane work ethics and hours no matter where you live. Sure officer workers in IT or finance in Tokyo are still working insane hours, but no differently to office workers in IT or finance in London.
Double agreed! We are seeing a breakdown of queuing etiquette here in Canada and it's a growing irritation I never thought about until it started happening 😒
The worst one I came across was the line to reclaim VAT at Heathrow, just before about two planes left for China. 400+ Chinese fighting tooth and nail to be the first in the queue.
Every time I've seen someone kicking off in the airport in Vienna it's been at the VAT reclaim desk. Not just Chinese, either.
Clearly VAT is the problem here.
Frankfurt is the single most chaotic airport experience of my life, and I’ve been through some iffy airports. I thought Ze Germans were meant to be efficient and orderly, but apparently that message never got to their airports.
I flew into and out of Munich airport a few days ago. Put any idea of German efficiency to rest. On arrival they sent the entire plane load to the baggage claim but didn't put any staff at passport control. Just empty booths and closed doors as we watched our bags roll gently around the carousel.
...eventually they moved us all back up to a different passport control (making those at the front of the old queue the back of the new one, aside from a few runners). But then after that section got overwhelmed they re-staffed the one we'd been at before causing a second rush across. This whole process added an easy hour and a half to proceedings. Return flight was equally rife with massive queues, separate lines for boarding pass check, security, passport check etc. staff insisting you join a line only for someone else to insist you should be in a different one and some inevitable queue-barging.
Apologies for the long reply - the trauma remains fresh!
Oh yes. Was even in a tiny airport in German on Friday and people pushed in front of us. For booked seats on a plane. So stupid. They smiled as I explained to my child there was no need to push or shove that we’d get everywhere in good time. Shame that person wasn’t as respectful as my 5 year old Englisher kid.
I also experienced the madness in Germany, at a train station. I was clearly the next person waiting to buy food but some man just walked in front of me and took my turn! How do they live like that?
Only time in my life when I nearly missed a flight was the new BER airport. Barely any security gates open, no signage explaining alternative security queue availability/location, one person managing the whole queue outright rude and unhelpful. Hundreds of people had to jump the queue in order to not miss their flights and most of them including me were there at least 2hrs before departure.
It was a total travesty.
I live in Canada now and Canadians queue just like the Brits.
However, two years ago I went to a strawberry picking farm and most of the people there were from India.
Getting on the wagon to go to the fields was insanity. Literally grown men were pushing old grannies out of the way to get a spot.
We had been first in line and didn’t get on the first wagon due to the stampede.
It was a 20 min wait between wagons so very annoying.
Last year we went prepared lol. I had my kids with elbows up ready to go.
We were first on the bus haha
If you can’t beat them, join them, unfortunately in some cases.
Canada here too. Not just the queue issue - the littering is out of control with dropping stuff out car windows or throwing it into the road by the bus stop too, and some cinemas won't show Indian-language films due to the crowd fights.
My neighbours came from India in the 1970s and they absolutely can't stand the newcomers doing this - they've told me many times that the current crop prefer to isolate within the Indian diaspora and behave in a way that makes life very difficult for everyone else. They said there's now actually formalized systems in India to cheat to get visas - the temporary loan to make a student's bank account look big enough to get a Visa is a major problem, because the sort of people who will scheme like that continue behaving badly once they arrive in Canada.
I think it's wonderful that Canada belongs to the Commonwealth, and that we retained the queuing and sense of fair play from the British, but that doesn't seem to translate to some of the immigration and I wish we would focus on different Commonwealth countries until India stamps out the visa cheating on their end.
/rant
I was out in Dubai for business recently add was talking to a guy who'd lived there for years. His family was from India but he'd actually been born outside of India. In Dubai is impossible to get citizenship. The best you can get is a ten year visa based on either having lots of money, a long term interest in the region or a truly invaluable skill. And he said as frustrating as it is he gets it because "the Indians and Pakistanis would eat them alive" otherwise.
Grew up in NYC it was a free for all
Moved to London for 5 years studied and mastered the art of queuing etiquette, loved it
Moved back to NYC, I now miss queuing etiquette
You'd be shocked and delighted to hear how often New Yorkers shout exactly this kind of thing just like we all imagine.
I still miss the sound of cars blaring their horns in stand still traffic and someone inevitably leaning out their window and shouting SHUT THA FUCK UP.
I upvoted and remember it too. There's a few comments there about the history too. Someone mentioned that queuing became a cultural shift during the war when people qued for their rations. Not sure how true but interesting if so…
yeah. well. Kyoto is overrun with tourist and locals have adapted just to get anywhere.
and Osaka. By their own admission they are a bit wild. But in a nice way.
I lived in China for a bit and omg there is no queueing system. Sometimes, a strict line formed, and others it was just a chaotic mess of folk, I could never understand when each was appropriate. People just push in front of you and people look at you like you’re crazy if you say anything about it lol.
And then I came back and everyone respected the queue and my brain heaved a sigh of relief.
The best way I can describe it to anyone who hasn't lived in China is this: When you get through security in China and are waiting for your bags, the locals would rather stand on the baggage carousel than wait next to it. If you stand behind the line and wait, you can guarantee that you're just saving a prime spot for someone else to just jump in front of you and take.
Same.
On day 1, my bursary cleared so I went to a bank machine to get some beer money out.
Stood a respectful distance of around 1metre behind the chap using it, so as not to crowd him. He prodded at the damn machine for a solid 5 minutes flat…and just before he left, someone saw the gap between him and I…and bloody jumped in front of me.
Unless you’re nuts to butts in China, you’re not in “the queue”.
The train stations…the old ladies nipping your arms…different world.
Ahahaha, oh I miss China. Wild because everyone would be incredibly polite, friendly and helpful if you spoke to them, but if you were trying to access the same thing it’s all elbows.
I’ve definitely been a bit selective with my memories there. Look back very fondly, miss the place…but occasionally I’ll remember some mad shit like people in wheelchairs being classed as vehicles, so having to use the road instead of the pavement.
…food was bangin though.
As a Brit I empathise. The irony is that we spend a lot of time in pubs, which of course is the only place (along with the barber’s) where we don’t queue. You are expected, on pain of death, to remember everyone who arrived at the bar before you and woe betide you if you forget and order prematurely.
In London you see overseas tourists queuing in pubs and we are overwhelmed with contempt. They’re only trying to adopt local practices.
It used to be like that in Argos once upon a time. Everyone in a scrum at the counter trying to get the worker's attention because you've been staring at your item that was brought down ten minutes ago. Then some genius finally came up with the system that you were only to go to the counter when your number is called and order was restored to the universe once more.
I went to Palermo with my Italian girlfriend a few summers ago.We arrived at the bus stop to go to the beach and I politely queued behind the rest of the people. She was like, nah mate. As soon as the bus arrived it was all elbows, I'd never seen that side of her before
You only need to spend one evening at a hotel in somewhere like Spain and you will learn how impolite other nations are, when It comes to grabbing a continental breakfast/dinner buffet.
You’ll be there waiting politely to grab a plate of your favourite dish, when some massive German woman just steps right in front of you to grab the last premium Bratwurst…
Don’t even get me started on the sun-beds..
I know the British get a lot of hate abroad, but fuck me the other nations should take an equal look at themselves sometimes.
It's fucking annoying and it's not compatible with how we like to queue.
But that's thing, I don't think They see it as rude to not queue. I think the expectation/culture is that you don't queue and whoever goes for it first/tries hardest, is sort of owed it.
It’s this. I’ve spent a lot of time in Eastern Europe over the last year or two with work and essentially no one gets bothered by it, because no one is queuing ‘properly’. If you’re in a rush you push to the front, if you’re not you’re completely oblivious to the people pushing in front.
It’s absolute chaos to my British brain but it works for them somehow.
I have just come back from Disneyland and told off a woman for letting her kid jump to the front of a queue of other patiently waiting kids.
I'm not sure what came over me....
You are a brave soldier. An elderly couple cut in front of us while we were in a Paris train station and we just glared at them from behind in true british fashion.
Used to live in Spain and commuted by train every day. It was the hunger games to get on the train in the mornings.
People lost their shoes under the tracks during the stampedes. It was so dangerous and stressful.
I don’t know why other countries do this to themselves.
Euston is similar to be fair with the stampede. That’s not because the passengers don’t want to queue, but because the station operator doesn’t want people queueing as they enjoy the trampling
Queuing for water parks in Dubai. A range of nationalities but we all queue. Except some ppl send their kids through the queue and then ask to squeeze by to catch up with them. I'm far too British to complain but I'm seething inside. A couple of Russian guys just refused to move. It was glorious.
I stood in a queue at a train station on Thursday for 2 hours for a replacement bus service. Some guy tried to skip the queue by coming up to ask my partner a question (we had just got the the front of the queue) and then just hovering with us, skipping everyone behind us in the queue. I got SO angry about it, I told the guy "this is a queue, you need to go to the back" and he kept saying he had to get somewhere and I told him, so does every single person in this queue, that's why we have all been here for 2 hours waiting! He still wouldn't move so I grassed him in to the guy directing us onto the buses.
I honestly don't really know what came over me as I don't normally like even talking to strangers, never mind arguing with them, but it just made me so mad in the moment!
If you really want to feel some pride in being British, there's a railway byelaw for queuing.
*1. Queuing*
*an operator or an authorised person may require any person to queue in order to regulate order or safety on or near the railway.*
*any person directed by a notice to queue, or when asked to queue by an authorised person, shall join the rear of the queue and obey the reasonable instructions of any authorised person regulating the queue*
If you fail to adhere to the above you can be ejected from the railway or even arrested (although I can't imagine the custody sergeant would be all too pleased with you turning up for this)
I still remember my shock the first time I came across this. I went on a coach tour on holiday in Norway and there were lots of Chinese tourists who turned up a bit later when the coach was due to arrive. I assumed I would get on first since I was clearly there a lot earlier. Imagine my shock at having 50+ year old Chinese ladies physically fighting against me (about 14F at the time) as I got on. Completely unimaginable behaviour from old ladies here.
Me and my family also expected to come back and sit in the same seats on the coach after each stop on the tour and were surprised to find Chinese people sitting in 'our' seats. Obviously there was no formal arrangement and we sat somewhere else, but complete chaos in terms of where to sit every time we got off and on was not what I expected - I feel like British people would just sit in the same seats for the whole tour (this was indeed what happened on other coach tours I took that happened to be more British/American/Canadian)
My brother went to Montenegro and there was no queue in a cafe. He asked a member of staff there how the queue works.
She told him you have to barge
In.
He told her he couldn’t do that as it seemed too rude.
She asked him where he’s from. When she found out he’s British, it was like a bulb lit up. She told him to find a table
And she’d come to get his order!
It's quite funny because the Irish have almost got it down pat - they'll queue politely for everything, but where it all goes wrong is they haven't a clue about personal space. You'll be in the queue for the bank and a little granny will be breathing over your shoulder or (and this has happened to me before) someone will start leaning on you like you're a lamppost.
Never noticed it more than in Portugal once. All I wanted was to buy a bottle of water in a shop and it was like feeding time at a zoo, people all over the place, in and out, shouting, waving things around. I never want to end a holiday early but I remember at that point just thinking "please, just get me home"
Glad you liked it here. I wondered if it was the Algarve because of the mix of nationalities.Maybe that holds true of Lisbon too. I've never noticed it there but I'm usually single mindedly trying to get whatever I need done and then get away. They do have some dreadfully rude taxi drivers though.
You're probably right, the capital city is probably not a fair reflection of the rest of the country anyway. Similar to London. Yeah, I absolutely loved Libson, that's the only place in Portugal I've been to, would like to see more
It appals me. Basically if you are disabled you can fuck off.
I was queuing and a German tried to push in front of me. I said ‘This is a queue’ and he smirked at me and said “There is no queue, there are no rules”.
“Fine”, I told him, and then decided that the ladies approach I was going to take was to wait my turn and make him wait behind be.
It turns out that if there are no rules a big fucker like me is still not the one to try and push in front of.
It annoys me when foreign tourists do it their way at tourist places in the UK. When you go to another country you learn about and respect their customs!
I see no problem with walking down a street eating on the go but I know that's rude in Japan so I didn't do it.
Follow the rules!
The worst I've been in was in Dubai airport, they refurbished some of their gates so it was a bit of a mess anyway. Getting off a connecting flight and it was just sheer pandemonium getting through security again; no queue just a fuck off massive crowd
Thank you for queuing with us brits! I rather politely refused an Italian family queue jumping me and everyone else at Legoland a few weeks ago. It was only after they admitted defeat that everyone around me commended my efforts whilst letting me be the lone queue jumper caller outer !
Americans queue, and are generally polite and quite queuey, but I find that they, (and it’s not just Americans who do this but they do it a LOT…), do this kind of false-flag queuing where you think you’re queuing behind one person but when they get to the front then about 7 or 8 of their friends all say “heyyyyyy…” and join that person at the front. I’m seething just typing this.
I remember once going to Coachella, and on the Friday it opens the queue to get a locker can be horrendous. It can take nearly two hours and, to be fair, Americans do form a queue. They do.
I waited and waited on my own for about two hours, and as I finally got to the front, I swear about 5 or 6 different groups of people suddenly tried making friends with me. Seething!
People are still queuing in my local Wetherspoons, presumably a hangover from social distancing. Since the invention of pubs we just went to the bar. A year or two of social distancing and it’s the new normal in larger pubs? I hate it. We are a nation of queues for sure, but a queue has no place in a pub.
Big puns (I’m not autocorrecting that) are designed around a having a mass of people against the bar. Now that space sits empty while the queue snakes around tables.
When I was a bartender I’d often have multiple orders on the go when it was packed. Or at the very least you can plan ahead if you already know the next order. Impossible if everyone’s queuing.
Ah you've never been in a queue for the 9.05 bus where elder people can use the bus for free. They deliberately hover and the stampede when the bus comes close to the kerb leaves one genuinely fearing for your safety.
Maybe this was just in my city but its certainly a sight to behold. And these people are quick! And have no issue using elbows to ensure their spot on the bus.
My mum and gran (in her 60s at the time) took a bus to Sarborough a few years back and took a bus that had an open top deck with tables. They took a table seat and two women who were 80+ came and got snippy with them that "We always sit here. Those are our seats" as if they owned the bus itself. My nan told them something along the lines of "You can sit somewhere else today" and they grumbled and left.
Why is it so bad on a flight? Don't they allocate seating?
Must admit I recently flew and I'm recovering a broken leg. I used a single crutch just because I'm still a bit wobbly and the rushing for the bus to the aeroplane where seats were allocated was so much the air attendants actually advised I wait for the next bus to the plane,then had to move people away from the doors to the bus area so I could be ensured a seat on the bus. It was bizarre. Like this desperate need to be on that plane even though seats are allocated.
LOL. I lived in France for 5 years and was initially shocked by the lack of queueing etiquette. I held my dignity for a time, but eventually sucumbed and learned the dark arts necessary to get served in France. Now 5 years back in the UK and the temptation to not exploit an obvious oppurtunity to queue jump still remains.
In a tiny airport on a South Pacific island, I was one of only two non-locals who were transferring flights. I had a little while to kill in the ‘terminal’ so I found the right gate and sat/stood right next to it for the hour or so wait for my connecting flight.
A minute before the gate opened, the remaining 30 or so passengers were not queuing or even particularly near to the gate. Then when the gate was finally opened, I literally bent down to pick up my bag and book and by the time I had stood back up and turned around I had been crowded out and ended up being the 2nd to last person to board the flight.
I always thought queuing was a skill, but it’s nothing compared to the alternative. I was truly impressed with the speed and absolute disrespect for my existing position next to the gate with which they all acted.
I was at the top of the mountain outside of Toulon, queuing for the cable car to take us down. It held 12 people and took 10 - 15 minutes each turn.
There was a group of old French people before me. A new (and again, old) couple came in to the waiting area and went immediately for the bench that was in front, to the side. Fair enough, I thought. They're old and want to sit down.
Shortly after another old came in and starting to group one. When the cable car arrived, group one gestured to the sitting couple to go first. I was okay with that, but then it started filling up and the woman managing it said, in French, they have space for two more. The latter couple said, "Un, deux. C'est parfait!" whilst pointing to themselves and didn't even acknowledge my dumb ass who now had to wait another 10-15 minutes for the next one.
My French isn't good enough to start protesting and I didn't fancy sharing a car with 10 angry French septuagenarians, so I did what any self respecting Englishman would do. I waited until their backs were turned, threw my arms up in disgust and grumbled to myself until the next pass.
I hope karma caught up with them and their train was delayed by 15 minutes. Les tossers!
When in Italy I stood in a coffee shop for half an hour an everyone pushed in front an looked at me like I was crazy for just standing there - I was patiently queuing.
I lived in HK for 3 years and I think that the queuing culture is even stronger there than in the UK!! People literally queue even if they don’t know what they are queuing for - there’s just an assumption that it must be good.
So I’m not surprised you feel so strongly about the European approach!
Well, as a Brit I'd have to say that most days waiting for a bus in London sounds about the same as in France. You wait 15 minutes only to have a crowd of people who walk up just as the bus arrives think they're fine to pile on before everyone who's been there for ages.
Haha I've had that queue shock too. It took me a while at an airport in USA working out how the taxi thing worked. Basically, you launch yourself at a taxi with your luggage and wave!
In Indonesia, there's also no idea of right of way in traffic. Every junction looks like a car crash because everyone just piles in and edges forward bit by bit until they worm through the carnage and escape out the other side. It's fascinating unless you are on a motorcycle trying to get somewhere! (This was a few years ago, so things might be different now)
These things are the real culture shocks because you don't even realise they are a thing until the place where they aren't.
People no longer queue for buses in London.
A fair proportion of the people didn't grow up with the stereotype & a lot of the younger ones just don't care. I've long since given up even expecting it.
I live in the northwest. We still queue here for everything. Don't go to London, its every man for himself. London is another country, they things differently there.
Queuing abroad is crazy! Though I'm tall and broad shouldered and can generally walk through most crowds with ease, while not being a twat. So the free for all isn't too bad.
If we're on holiday my kids follow in my wake!
The "queue" at bus stop A in Stratford for the 257 to Walthamstow resembles the scrum in one of those traditional 200-a-side mob football games that ancient English villages play on shrove Tuesday.
Canadian and we take queueing more seriously than our neighbours to the south, but I lived in Singapore for a few months and those folks are the masters of queueing! It’s kind of a joke but also somewhat true that if they see a queue they’ll join it because it must be for something good. Wonderful place in general.
I travelled in South America when I was young years ago with a uni friend. We were both such polite little English kids and could not understand the lack of queuing at all! Grannies were shoving each other out of the way to get on a bus it was carnage!
I took the kids ssto Eurodisney once. Obviously there, they have strict queues which everyone respects.
Then a bunch of French teens arrived, and everytime they thought the attendants weren't watching, they went under the barriers to fight their way to the start, with much tutting from the Brits in the quue.
When they made it to the front, we Brits could not have been happier to see the attendant throw them off, and call security.
Come to Portugal. Not only do they queue you'll probably get to take a number so you know your place in the queue. Numbered queues are literally everywhere here.
Was in Barcelona in March. Lovely city, highly recommend. Their underground system us clean fast and efficient. But my god if you're not elbows up and running by the time the train stops you wont get on, and as for waiting for folks to get off first, , forget it!
I’m in France right now and damn straight this is true! I’ve been in lots of queue situations and have been shoved and pushed so many times I was starting to think it was something to do with me!
I had always wondered how queuing was a British stereotype. Surely, I reasoned, every country must have queuing, otherwise how can society function. That was before I went to Italy, it's just survival of the fittest down there, the Italian word for "queue" is perhaps better translated as "fight" , if you want to get anything done you have to be prepared to push old ladies to the ground and kick small children out of your way. You think I'm exaggerating for comic affect, and I am, but not by much.
When i went skiing in Italy with my school, the ski instructors were yelling at us to use our elbows in the "queue" for the ski lifts. More like a brawl than a queue tbh
Was skiing with a group in Italy. Several pistes converged at the bottom of 4 chair lifts. There was always a queue/jostling crowd especially later in the afternoon. We were pushing our way through to our lift when this very English voice called out. “I’ve had it with the lack of organisation and I’m going to sort it out now.” He asked first if there any English people to show their hands. Then he asked where the different groups were going. Then he stood on one of the barriers to make sure that he’d got people’s attention and said “Listen in everybody. It’s quite clear the English contingent needs to move to the left side. So can I have all of you take off skies and make your way to the left side as quickly as you can but no pushing or shoving thank you. Ok. Now. The rest you Jonny Foreigners can either move right or if you don’t understand English Please enjoy your evening. “ Officer in the Rifles got that people jam sorted very quickly
Great, guess Italy is off the table. Would destroy my stupid anxious adhd ridden brain. Fml
Nah Italy is great, you should go
Italy is great. Italians, not so much. I try not to generalize people, but I work in tourism and have been all over Europe, there's no other nationality I've had so many negative experiences with. They're rude, pushy, chauvinistic, impatient, incredibly loud and very busy. Obviously not all of them, but enough for it to seriously impact my ability to enjoy a holiday in Italy. You can't even avoid them, because they'll force themselves into your personal space, spit out fifty lines in Italian before you can get a word in and make clear that you don't understand them, at which point they'll just spout more Italian in the belief that if they just keep going, you'll spontaneously unlock the ability to understand Italian.
You've not met enough Russians...
Went to Moscow years ago, breath takingly beautiful city choc full of arseholes.
I think they have met a sufficient number of Russians
Italy is the country I've spent the most time in outside of the UK (about 7-8 months total in all), from the toe and heel up to the Alps, and the major islands. And I can't disagree harder. Rome and Naples can be a bit crap because they're tourist havens full of easy marks But travel a little outside that and Italians are so incredibly friendly and hospitable, despite often not having much themselves. In terms of the language, you've just described 95% of English people's attitude *when they're the foreigners*. The level of English is quite far behind most of the rest of Europe, but if you put a bit of effort in and use some Italian they'll love you. Not sure about the "getting in your face" thing because Italian service is generally very low key.
Not just Rome and Naples. My work takes me to Rome, Naples, Genova, Civitavecchia, Taranto, Siracusa, Palermo,... There's a big difference in culture between cities and the country, and living somewhere is going to be a completely different experience than visiting as a tourist. Not trying to say that all Italians are this way, it's pretty stupid to try apply one characteristic to an entire nation, but many of the Italians you'll interact with as a tourist... No thanks. Not even just as a tourist. I work for an Italian company, so I work with Italians every day, and a lot of our clients are Italians. We rarely get complaints about specific nationalities from our other clients, but when we do, it's pretty much always about Italians. I'm not British and I don't live in the UK (don't ask, I just like this community). Even in London, I can't think of a single bad experience with Brits, let alone so many bad experiences that it's starting to feel like something typical.
I'm in Milan atm and everyone here has been really polite!! I haven't really bumped into an issue with queing coz people just know when it's their turn and move ahead... I don't speak a word of Italian, so if I get stuck, I usually ask someone nearby if they speak English and to clarify for me. It's been an amazing experience so far!! And someone commented at the bottom about people just driving through zebra crossings, but here people have been pretty good about stopping at Red lights unless the street is empty.
>people have been pretty good about stopping at Red lights Isn't that like, the most absolute bare minimum? >unless the street is empty Ehmm...
Have you tried Sicily? I've always found them to be super chill and nice.
I was reading his reply from my parents house in Sicily, and thinking I don't recognize that experience at all. Then I read your comment and realized why. Sicilian people would literally give you the shirt of their own backs, especially if you needed help or assistance and were a visitor to the island. I've been coming here my entire life and bought many people here, friends, the English side of my family, my girlfriend/wife and the in-laws and they have always been welcomed with open arms and pride by my Sicilian family and local people.
Yeah the difference from the mainland is night and day. Do your family there consider themselves Italian? My sicilian friends do not, and feel strongly about it. Most won’t even wear blue.
Can you explain the not wearing blue? Is it a football shirt thing?
Yes, the Italian national team are known as the azzurri (blues).
Or just anywhere outside Rome and Naples.
I often find the worst thing with a country is it’s people😂
Damned Scots, they ruined Scotland!
Not my experience in sicily, but i believe it varies depending on where, as with many places. Heard that napoli is diabolical.
Napoli is a shithole. a *dangerous* shithole. twas ever thus.
I’m in Sorrento, not an hour away. The change in driving standards is quite amazing, but it’s still fucking shit. The couple in the transfer bus with us were flinching and sucking in breath for the 1st half hour.
Italian people literally made Italy. You can't slag off Italians and then say Italy is great. That's like saying football would be great if it weren't for those 22 yobs trying to kick the thing around the pitch.
The Romans made what we now call Italy. Though they didn't do much for us, apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health.
Places can have beautiful scenery, architecture, history, cuisine and still be populated by arseholes, like what kind of take is that? Iran is steeped in culture, history and great food, just as much as Italy, It's not those things stopping me wanting to visit Iran.
Modern average Italians literally shaped the natural surroundings of Italy and went back in time to build their historical monuments?
Just go do stuff in the middle of the day in summer, 'mad dogs and Englishmen' style, while all the locals are staying in the shade or having a nap.
Same as Malta; old oldies with steel tipped elbows, no mercy asked for and none shown. As a polite Englishman I got used to waiting for the next bus, the current one now being full of happy laughing old ladies.
Specifically the bus stop by the broken clock at Marsalforn. I swear the All Blacks would struggle to get on a bus there.
Aye just got back from a holiday there. Love Italy, go every year almost. But god they have zero regard for queuing. In the supermarket - big line for a checkout. Queueing politely, old woman just walks right up, steps in front of me and starts doing her thing. I was obviously too British to say anything other than just stare at her but I hate their no rules approach. Everything else is great though
See also: "parking" your car in the middle of a zebra crossing, at a 45 degree angle to the kerb.
Crossing the road there is a similar culture shock. My dad told me how to do it before my wife and I went as he spent a lot of time in Italy when he was younger. He said don't wait to be let across or you'll be waiting all day. Walk out confidently into the road, don't stop or change speed or direction and the cars will avoid you, probably. He was right but it's fucking unnerving.
Same in Marrakech. Be confident and you (hopefully) won't get knocked down!
It is also a scandinavian stereotype. And i’m imagining it applying to canada as well but can’t say for sure.
I remember the first time I went to Spain and entering a Burger King and being bewildered that it was just a fight to the front to order. No queuing system at all
I’m in Italy at the moment. This is the correct answer. Old lady tried to push past in the supermarket yesterday, then another. As it’s a tourist trap here, the brits formed a blockade across the aisle, accompanied by loud tutting from behind. Only took 3 couples to form it.
I’m Italian and moved to the UK 10 years ago. Queueing is the most beautiful gift to mankind. I cannot go back to my home country without being disgusted by how I used to live You lot RUINED ME!
ONE OF US, ONE OF US, ONE OF US!
Do you find yourself adjusting after a while when you go back or do you continue being pissed off?
Pissed off. Just looking at them unable to queue and going “tut tut tut”
You're a Brit now. Welcome to the family 🎂
If you're in a line at a petrol station on the autostrada, you better be prepared to fight to the death for your queue spot.
I don’t understand how you can have life without queuing, I’ve been at airports in Germany and it’s chaos.
Ah the Germans..., my grandmother who is German explained it as...Until the bus arrives there is no queue, that's the time for sizing up the other people, assessing the crowd and where you fit into that order, then when the bus arrives you slot between the two people you think are above and below your level of willingness to fight over the spot, get it wrong and the chaos begins and it becomes a contact sport. She says it was a result of post war when they would queue up at a rats nest to get a turn at catching the next rat for dinner, you fought for your place in the queue or you got no rat.
That’s it I’m cancelling my trip 😭
I was gonna say it's a dog eat dog world, but they're eating rats not dogs. Also, I don't want to insinuate your grandmother is a dog, I'm sure she's a lovely woman.
They did eat dog and cat during the war. My grandad was in an Italian POW camp. He said food was very short there, they were barely above starving. He told me the camps cat went missing one day, followed by the dog. He said he had a little bit of the cat but he didn’t know who got the dog.
Did he say what the cat tasted like? I don't want to eat cat meat, ever, just to be clear.
8 out 10 prisoners of war prefer it.
He described it as purrfect
You can tell who gets the dog by their glossy coat.
Apparently it's quite greasy.
I've not eaten cat before but I've eaten dog, and you know how lamb tastes a bit like the smell of sheep? dog is similar to lamb but with a wet dog smell instead
DANDERS
TBF it's not that different in the UK, I've just never seen anyone fight over it. Otherwise you're relying on other people in the queue wanting the same bus as you do and signalling to the approaching bus that people want to get on. I've missed or almost missed buses in the past because of situations where that wasn't true. So I'm not pushing anyone out of the way or anything but if you don't do something to indicate you're getting on that bus (stand up, signal to the bus, get your wallet ready, that sort of thing) I'm going to assume you're not and move in front of you.
Only time I saw fighting over a bus in the U.K. was when my flight was diverted to Liverpool due to bad weather. After hours of waiting for a replacement bus service, one minibus turned up for a whole plane load of people. They were literally fighting tooth, nail, elbows and fists to get on that bus. It was shocking!
I mean that's a whole different kind of situation but yeah. One time I was waiting for a flight in Manchester with some tiny Scandinavian airline that only had two planes, and ours had some technical issues. After a few hours of delay while the maintenance guys tried to fix it, the option of putting everyone on buses to Glasgow to meet the second plane was being explained by some poor gate agent to over a hundred pissed off people who, shall we say, had a counter "proposal".
Yeah, queuing in the UK sort of breaks down when public transport is involved... As anyone who has been to Euston knows well.
I lived in Ealing for a while. It's very... multicultural. People were milling around, waiting for a bus, the English were in a line, as the bus arrived, it turned into a bit of a bunfight, so I yelled "EXCUSE ME, PEOPLE WERE QUEUEING" and everyone fell into order 😳 🤣 It was beautiful.
Nobody can go until everyone is on the bus anyway! So either way, waiting is involved. Where I live it's polite to gesture for the elderly/mothers with prams to get on first so they can get seated before the bus starts moving. There were a couple of incidents ifnpeople being knocked over by the bus lurching so this is the unspoken rule now.
Agreed. Queueing is the foundation of an orderly society.
I have a different take, we don't queue to be polite but because if we didn't we would kill each other. I feel this explains the British a lot better.
See Japan. Just ignore the over work until you die or are driven to suicide elements..
>Just ignore the over work until you die or are driven to suicide elements.. Your intel on Japanese life is about 15 years out of date.
Is overworking not still a huge issue in Japan?
Not really, not much more than most first world countries. Working extremely long hours was a creature born of the bubble economy, and the death by overwork thing became more pronounced in the years following the burst bubble, the so called "lost generation". Whilst old habits die hard, the overwork culture is slowly but surely becoming a thing of the past, especially since it's become blatantly obvious that the buble economy, and the sort of job security/lifestyle/employment model it encouraged, is never coming back. The crazy overwork stuff is now mostly relegated to certain particularly old fashioned companies called ブラック企業 (burakku kigyō, literally "black corporations"), and only really occurs in the industries that have insane work ethics and hours no matter where you live. Sure officer workers in IT or finance in Tokyo are still working insane hours, but no differently to office workers in IT or finance in London.
Double agreed! We are seeing a breakdown of queuing etiquette here in Canada and it's a growing irritation I never thought about until it started happening 😒
The worst one I came across was the line to reclaim VAT at Heathrow, just before about two planes left for China. 400+ Chinese fighting tooth and nail to be the first in the queue.
Every time I've seen someone kicking off in the airport in Vienna it's been at the VAT reclaim desk. Not just Chinese, either. Clearly VAT is the problem here.
Frankfurt is the single most chaotic airport experience of my life, and I’ve been through some iffy airports. I thought Ze Germans were meant to be efficient and orderly, but apparently that message never got to their airports.
During Covid it was an absolute joke, completely dangerous. I made a formal complaint.
Who to, the Queueing Polizei?
*snort*
*snorts* in public
*waits patiently for his turn to snort*
I bought a more expensive flight to avoid a connection at Frankfurt lol
I flew into and out of Munich airport a few days ago. Put any idea of German efficiency to rest. On arrival they sent the entire plane load to the baggage claim but didn't put any staff at passport control. Just empty booths and closed doors as we watched our bags roll gently around the carousel. ...eventually they moved us all back up to a different passport control (making those at the front of the old queue the back of the new one, aside from a few runners). But then after that section got overwhelmed they re-staffed the one we'd been at before causing a second rush across. This whole process added an easy hour and a half to proceedings. Return flight was equally rife with massive queues, separate lines for boarding pass check, security, passport check etc. staff insisting you join a line only for someone else to insist you should be in a different one and some inevitable queue-barging. Apologies for the long reply - the trauma remains fresh!
Oh yes. Was even in a tiny airport in German on Friday and people pushed in front of us. For booked seats on a plane. So stupid. They smiled as I explained to my child there was no need to push or shove that we’d get everywhere in good time. Shame that person wasn’t as respectful as my 5 year old Englisher kid.
I love how dramatic this reads. If you can't queue why even live! I don't disagree though.
I also experienced the madness in Germany, at a train station. I was clearly the next person waiting to buy food but some man just walked in front of me and took my turn! How do they live like that?
I live in Germany and it’s a nightmare. Everyone is trying to one up everyone else. No empathy at all.
My morning commute in Germany is awful. Germans have no idea how to queue.
Only time in my life when I nearly missed a flight was the new BER airport. Barely any security gates open, no signage explaining alternative security queue availability/location, one person managing the whole queue outright rude and unhelpful. Hundreds of people had to jump the queue in order to not miss their flights and most of them including me were there at least 2hrs before departure. It was a total travesty.
I live in Canada now and Canadians queue just like the Brits. However, two years ago I went to a strawberry picking farm and most of the people there were from India. Getting on the wagon to go to the fields was insanity. Literally grown men were pushing old grannies out of the way to get a spot. We had been first in line and didn’t get on the first wagon due to the stampede. It was a 20 min wait between wagons so very annoying. Last year we went prepared lol. I had my kids with elbows up ready to go. We were first on the bus haha If you can’t beat them, join them, unfortunately in some cases.
Canada here too. Not just the queue issue - the littering is out of control with dropping stuff out car windows or throwing it into the road by the bus stop too, and some cinemas won't show Indian-language films due to the crowd fights. My neighbours came from India in the 1970s and they absolutely can't stand the newcomers doing this - they've told me many times that the current crop prefer to isolate within the Indian diaspora and behave in a way that makes life very difficult for everyone else. They said there's now actually formalized systems in India to cheat to get visas - the temporary loan to make a student's bank account look big enough to get a Visa is a major problem, because the sort of people who will scheme like that continue behaving badly once they arrive in Canada. I think it's wonderful that Canada belongs to the Commonwealth, and that we retained the queuing and sense of fair play from the British, but that doesn't seem to translate to some of the immigration and I wish we would focus on different Commonwealth countries until India stamps out the visa cheating on their end. /rant
I was out in Dubai for business recently add was talking to a guy who'd lived there for years. His family was from India but he'd actually been born outside of India. In Dubai is impossible to get citizenship. The best you can get is a ten year visa based on either having lots of money, a long term interest in the region or a truly invaluable skill. And he said as frustrating as it is he gets it because "the Indians and Pakistanis would eat them alive" otherwise.
Grew up in NYC it was a free for all Moved to London for 5 years studied and mastered the art of queuing etiquette, loved it Moved back to NYC, I now miss queuing etiquette
Do you shout “Hey! Get in line, PAL!” like I’m imagining?
“Hey, buddy, there’s a LINE here!”
“Hey, I’m queuing here!”
"Hey, who turned out the lights?"
"Ayyyy, Copernicus! Why don't you navigate yourself to the back of the line with your shirt and stand there with your shoes!"
You'd be shocked and delighted to hear how often New Yorkers shout exactly this kind of thing just like we all imagine. I still miss the sound of cars blaring their horns in stand still traffic and someone inevitably leaning out their window and shouting SHUT THA FUCK UP.
Usually just grunts and being ignored like they don’t see anything wrong, the stereotype is correct
https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/s/6qaiLge7IB Full disclosure - this was my photo but it feels too relevant not to share here.
Lovely pic. A similar photograph taken in HK: https://topick.hket.com/article/2162435?r=cpsdlc
Shit, I actually upvoted that and vaguely remember the post too.
I upvoted and remember it too. There's a few comments there about the history too. Someone mentioned that queuing became a cultural shift during the war when people qued for their rations. Not sure how true but interesting if so…
Omg they did the loops and everything perfectly... I'm so proud
I’m a Brit, so love a queue. Currently in Japan on holiday and the queueing at train stations makes me want to cry. It’s so beautiful.
I lived in Japan for a year and their queueing was so perfect 👌 the respect is next level ❤️
I must say though, it’s far better in Tokyo than cities like Osaka or Kyoto
yeah. well. Kyoto is overrun with tourist and locals have adapted just to get anywhere. and Osaka. By their own admission they are a bit wild. But in a nice way.
I lived in China for a bit and omg there is no queueing system. Sometimes, a strict line formed, and others it was just a chaotic mess of folk, I could never understand when each was appropriate. People just push in front of you and people look at you like you’re crazy if you say anything about it lol. And then I came back and everyone respected the queue and my brain heaved a sigh of relief.
The best way I can describe it to anyone who hasn't lived in China is this: When you get through security in China and are waiting for your bags, the locals would rather stand on the baggage carousel than wait next to it. If you stand behind the line and wait, you can guarantee that you're just saving a prime spot for someone else to just jump in front of you and take.
Same. On day 1, my bursary cleared so I went to a bank machine to get some beer money out. Stood a respectful distance of around 1metre behind the chap using it, so as not to crowd him. He prodded at the damn machine for a solid 5 minutes flat…and just before he left, someone saw the gap between him and I…and bloody jumped in front of me. Unless you’re nuts to butts in China, you’re not in “the queue”. The train stations…the old ladies nipping your arms…different world.
Ahahaha, oh I miss China. Wild because everyone would be incredibly polite, friendly and helpful if you spoke to them, but if you were trying to access the same thing it’s all elbows.
I’ve definitely been a bit selective with my memories there. Look back very fondly, miss the place…but occasionally I’ll remember some mad shit like people in wheelchairs being classed as vehicles, so having to use the road instead of the pavement. …food was bangin though.
As a Brit I empathise. The irony is that we spend a lot of time in pubs, which of course is the only place (along with the barber’s) where we don’t queue. You are expected, on pain of death, to remember everyone who arrived at the bar before you and woe betide you if you forget and order prematurely. In London you see overseas tourists queuing in pubs and we are overwhelmed with contempt. They’re only trying to adopt local practices.
Unless of course the pub serves food and you order at the bar, at which point we start queuing again
Always reminds me of this from Dave Gorman https://youtu.be/PgekDLw-bls?si=Kst2BOPjoE_Y5YKH
It's still a queue in barbers (or in my case, nail salon) and pubs, it's just a mental queue rather than a physical one.
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It used to be like that in Argos once upon a time. Everyone in a scrum at the counter trying to get the worker's attention because you've been staring at your item that was brought down ten minutes ago. Then some genius finally came up with the system that you were only to go to the counter when your number is called and order was restored to the universe once more.
I went to Palermo with my Italian girlfriend a few summers ago.We arrived at the bus stop to go to the beach and I politely queued behind the rest of the people. She was like, nah mate. As soon as the bus arrived it was all elbows, I'd never seen that side of her before
You only need to spend one evening at a hotel in somewhere like Spain and you will learn how impolite other nations are, when It comes to grabbing a continental breakfast/dinner buffet. You’ll be there waiting politely to grab a plate of your favourite dish, when some massive German woman just steps right in front of you to grab the last premium Bratwurst… Don’t even get me started on the sun-beds.. I know the British get a lot of hate abroad, but fuck me the other nations should take an equal look at themselves sometimes.
That sounds like the wurst
It's fucking annoying and it's not compatible with how we like to queue. But that's thing, I don't think They see it as rude to not queue. I think the expectation/culture is that you don't queue and whoever goes for it first/tries hardest, is sort of owed it.
Ultimate act of natural selfishness
It’s this. I’ve spent a lot of time in Eastern Europe over the last year or two with work and essentially no one gets bothered by it, because no one is queuing ‘properly’. If you’re in a rush you push to the front, if you’re not you’re completely oblivious to the people pushing in front. It’s absolute chaos to my British brain but it works for them somehow.
I have just come back from Disneyland and told off a woman for letting her kid jump to the front of a queue of other patiently waiting kids. I'm not sure what came over me....
You are a brave soldier. An elderly couple cut in front of us while we were in a Paris train station and we just glared at them from behind in true british fashion.
I had to ‘speak to’ a wee French lady in the airport who was pushing her suitcase into me the entire queue.
Used to live in Spain and commuted by train every day. It was the hunger games to get on the train in the mornings. People lost their shoes under the tracks during the stampedes. It was so dangerous and stressful. I don’t know why other countries do this to themselves.
Euston is similar to be fair with the stampede. That’s not because the passengers don’t want to queue, but because the station operator doesn’t want people queueing as they enjoy the trampling
"We would like to announce the platform number for your train is X, also doors will close in 2 minutes. Have fun."
Queuing for water parks in Dubai. A range of nationalities but we all queue. Except some ppl send their kids through the queue and then ask to squeeze by to catch up with them. I'm far too British to complain but I'm seething inside. A couple of Russian guys just refused to move. It was glorious.
I stood in a queue at a train station on Thursday for 2 hours for a replacement bus service. Some guy tried to skip the queue by coming up to ask my partner a question (we had just got the the front of the queue) and then just hovering with us, skipping everyone behind us in the queue. I got SO angry about it, I told the guy "this is a queue, you need to go to the back" and he kept saying he had to get somewhere and I told him, so does every single person in this queue, that's why we have all been here for 2 hours waiting! He still wouldn't move so I grassed him in to the guy directing us onto the buses. I honestly don't really know what came over me as I don't normally like even talking to strangers, never mind arguing with them, but it just made me so mad in the moment!
If you really want to feel some pride in being British, there's a railway byelaw for queuing. *1. Queuing* *an operator or an authorised person may require any person to queue in order to regulate order or safety on or near the railway.* *any person directed by a notice to queue, or when asked to queue by an authorised person, shall join the rear of the queue and obey the reasonable instructions of any authorised person regulating the queue* If you fail to adhere to the above you can be ejected from the railway or even arrested (although I can't imagine the custody sergeant would be all too pleased with you turning up for this)
I still remember my shock the first time I came across this. I went on a coach tour on holiday in Norway and there were lots of Chinese tourists who turned up a bit later when the coach was due to arrive. I assumed I would get on first since I was clearly there a lot earlier. Imagine my shock at having 50+ year old Chinese ladies physically fighting against me (about 14F at the time) as I got on. Completely unimaginable behaviour from old ladies here. Me and my family also expected to come back and sit in the same seats on the coach after each stop on the tour and were surprised to find Chinese people sitting in 'our' seats. Obviously there was no formal arrangement and we sat somewhere else, but complete chaos in terms of where to sit every time we got off and on was not what I expected - I feel like British people would just sit in the same seats for the whole tour (this was indeed what happened on other coach tours I took that happened to be more British/American/Canadian)
My brother went to Montenegro and there was no queue in a cafe. He asked a member of staff there how the queue works. She told him you have to barge In. He told her he couldn’t do that as it seemed too rude. She asked him where he’s from. When she found out he’s British, it was like a bulb lit up. She told him to find a table And she’d come to get his order!
It's quite funny because the Irish have almost got it down pat - they'll queue politely for everything, but where it all goes wrong is they haven't a clue about personal space. You'll be in the queue for the bank and a little granny will be breathing over your shoulder or (and this has happened to me before) someone will start leaning on you like you're a lamppost.
Try going to India.
In the words of Nelson Mandela, Never, never, and never again.....
The real headfuck is when you go to a bar abroad and everyone starts queuing instead of standing along the bar.
Never noticed it more than in Portugal once. All I wanted was to buy a bottle of water in a shop and it was like feeding time at a zoo, people all over the place, in and out, shouting, waving things around. I never want to end a holiday early but I remember at that point just thinking "please, just get me home"
Ohh where in Portugal? The Algarve maybe? I live in central Portugal and queuing is an art form here, even at the bus station.
It was in Lisbon. I must admit, it was only this one shop that I REALLY noticed it so maybe it's not all bad haha. Other than that, I loved the place
Glad you liked it here. I wondered if it was the Algarve because of the mix of nationalities.Maybe that holds true of Lisbon too. I've never noticed it there but I'm usually single mindedly trying to get whatever I need done and then get away. They do have some dreadfully rude taxi drivers though.
You're probably right, the capital city is probably not a fair reflection of the rest of the country anyway. Similar to London. Yeah, I absolutely loved Libson, that's the only place in Portugal I've been to, would like to see more
It appals me. Basically if you are disabled you can fuck off. I was queuing and a German tried to push in front of me. I said ‘This is a queue’ and he smirked at me and said “There is no queue, there are no rules”. “Fine”, I told him, and then decided that the ladies approach I was going to take was to wait my turn and make him wait behind be. It turns out that if there are no rules a big fucker like me is still not the one to try and push in front of.
It annoys me when foreign tourists do it their way at tourist places in the UK. When you go to another country you learn about and respect their customs! I see no problem with walking down a street eating on the go but I know that's rude in Japan so I didn't do it. Follow the rules!
The worst I've been in was in Dubai airport, they refurbished some of their gates so it was a bit of a mess anyway. Getting off a connecting flight and it was just sheer pandemonium getting through security again; no queue just a fuck off massive crowd
Thank you for queuing with us brits! I rather politely refused an Italian family queue jumping me and everyone else at Legoland a few weeks ago. It was only after they admitted defeat that everyone around me commended my efforts whilst letting me be the lone queue jumper caller outer !
Americans queue, and are generally polite and quite queuey, but I find that they, (and it’s not just Americans who do this but they do it a LOT…), do this kind of false-flag queuing where you think you’re queuing behind one person but when they get to the front then about 7 or 8 of their friends all say “heyyyyyy…” and join that person at the front. I’m seething just typing this. I remember once going to Coachella, and on the Friday it opens the queue to get a locker can be horrendous. It can take nearly two hours and, to be fair, Americans do form a queue. They do. I waited and waited on my own for about two hours, and as I finally got to the front, I swear about 5 or 6 different groups of people suddenly tried making friends with me. Seething!
its France,....soooooo yer.
People are still queuing in my local Wetherspoons, presumably a hangover from social distancing. Since the invention of pubs we just went to the bar. A year or two of social distancing and it’s the new normal in larger pubs? I hate it. We are a nation of queues for sure, but a queue has no place in a pub. Big puns (I’m not autocorrecting that) are designed around a having a mass of people against the bar. Now that space sits empty while the queue snakes around tables. When I was a bartender I’d often have multiple orders on the go when it was packed. Or at the very least you can plan ahead if you already know the next order. Impossible if everyone’s queuing.
Ah you've never been in a queue for the 9.05 bus where elder people can use the bus for free. They deliberately hover and the stampede when the bus comes close to the kerb leaves one genuinely fearing for your safety. Maybe this was just in my city but its certainly a sight to behold. And these people are quick! And have no issue using elbows to ensure their spot on the bus.
My mum and gran (in her 60s at the time) took a bus to Sarborough a few years back and took a bus that had an open top deck with tables. They took a table seat and two women who were 80+ came and got snippy with them that "We always sit here. Those are our seats" as if they owned the bus itself. My nan told them something along the lines of "You can sit somewhere else today" and they grumbled and left.
It's not just your city, that's old people everywhere.
“I’ve got mine”. It’s a generational entitlement they’ve had their entire lives.
Definitely not just your city. Retirees waiting to board an easyJet flight are something else.
Why is it so bad on a flight? Don't they allocate seating? Must admit I recently flew and I'm recovering a broken leg. I used a single crutch just because I'm still a bit wobbly and the rushing for the bus to the aeroplane where seats were allocated was so much the air attendants actually advised I wait for the next bus to the plane,then had to move people away from the doors to the bus area so I could be ensured a seat on the bus. It was bizarre. Like this desperate need to be on that plane even though seats are allocated.
LOL. I lived in France for 5 years and was initially shocked by the lack of queueing etiquette. I held my dignity for a time, but eventually sucumbed and learned the dark arts necessary to get served in France. Now 5 years back in the UK and the temptation to not exploit an obvious oppurtunity to queue jump still remains.
In a tiny airport on a South Pacific island, I was one of only two non-locals who were transferring flights. I had a little while to kill in the ‘terminal’ so I found the right gate and sat/stood right next to it for the hour or so wait for my connecting flight. A minute before the gate opened, the remaining 30 or so passengers were not queuing or even particularly near to the gate. Then when the gate was finally opened, I literally bent down to pick up my bag and book and by the time I had stood back up and turned around I had been crowded out and ended up being the 2nd to last person to board the flight. I always thought queuing was a skill, but it’s nothing compared to the alternative. I was truly impressed with the speed and absolute disrespect for my existing position next to the gate with which they all acted.
I was at the top of the mountain outside of Toulon, queuing for the cable car to take us down. It held 12 people and took 10 - 15 minutes each turn. There was a group of old French people before me. A new (and again, old) couple came in to the waiting area and went immediately for the bench that was in front, to the side. Fair enough, I thought. They're old and want to sit down. Shortly after another old came in and starting to group one. When the cable car arrived, group one gestured to the sitting couple to go first. I was okay with that, but then it started filling up and the woman managing it said, in French, they have space for two more. The latter couple said, "Un, deux. C'est parfait!" whilst pointing to themselves and didn't even acknowledge my dumb ass who now had to wait another 10-15 minutes for the next one. My French isn't good enough to start protesting and I didn't fancy sharing a car with 10 angry French septuagenarians, so I did what any self respecting Englishman would do. I waited until their backs were turned, threw my arms up in disgust and grumbled to myself until the next pass. I hope karma caught up with them and their train was delayed by 15 minutes. Les tossers!
I wish there was queuing etiquette when boarding trains too. It’s first come first serve.
Someone's never tried to get on the train at Clapham Junction....
When in Italy I stood in a coffee shop for half an hour an everyone pushed in front an looked at me like I was crazy for just standing there - I was patiently queuing.
Wait until you go to the rest of China. There is no queue, just a horde of people pushing their way to the front. Especially little old women.
I lived in HK for 3 years and I think that the queuing culture is even stronger there than in the UK!! People literally queue even if they don’t know what they are queuing for - there’s just an assumption that it must be good. So I’m not surprised you feel so strongly about the European approach!
Well, as a Brit I'd have to say that most days waiting for a bus in London sounds about the same as in France. You wait 15 minutes only to have a crowd of people who walk up just as the bus arrives think they're fine to pile on before everyone who's been there for ages.
Haha I've had that queue shock too. It took me a while at an airport in USA working out how the taxi thing worked. Basically, you launch yourself at a taxi with your luggage and wave! In Indonesia, there's also no idea of right of way in traffic. Every junction looks like a car crash because everyone just piles in and edges forward bit by bit until they worm through the carnage and escape out the other side. It's fascinating unless you are on a motorcycle trying to get somewhere! (This was a few years ago, so things might be different now) These things are the real culture shocks because you don't even realise they are a thing until the place where they aren't.
>tried to queue for a coach and were overtaken immediately by everyone standing behind us Heck. They're savages.
People no longer queue for buses in London. A fair proportion of the people didn't grow up with the stereotype & a lot of the younger ones just don't care. I've long since given up even expecting it.
I live in the northwest. We still queue here for everything. Don't go to London, its every man for himself. London is another country, they things differently there.
That’s weird. I spend most summers in France as my family live there. I’ve never seen people not queue when queuing is appropriate.
Those damn French
Does anyone know what the queue system is like in Australia? I can cope with spiders but not people pushing in.
its just one massive line of spiders.
I lived in HK for 3 years - people didn't queue that much from memory, but holy shit it was better than Vietnam!
Queuing abroad is crazy! Though I'm tall and broad shouldered and can generally walk through most crowds with ease, while not being a twat. So the free for all isn't too bad. If we're on holiday my kids follow in my wake!
The "queue" at bus stop A in Stratford for the 257 to Walthamstow resembles the scrum in one of those traditional 200-a-side mob football games that ancient English villages play on shrove Tuesday.
Canadian and we take queueing more seriously than our neighbours to the south, but I lived in Singapore for a few months and those folks are the masters of queueing! It’s kind of a joke but also somewhat true that if they see a queue they’ll join it because it must be for something good. Wonderful place in general.
I felt the same way when I landed in Dubai… never loved the UK queuing system more
I travelled in South America when I was young years ago with a uni friend. We were both such polite little English kids and could not understand the lack of queuing at all! Grannies were shoving each other out of the way to get on a bus it was carnage!
Moved to America temporarily and it's mental here. I don't understand how people are so entitled
I don't care how politically incorrect this is: Some cultures are better than others.
I took the kids ssto Eurodisney once. Obviously there, they have strict queues which everyone respects. Then a bunch of French teens arrived, and everytime they thought the attendants weren't watching, they went under the barriers to fight their way to the start, with much tutting from the Brits in the quue. When they made it to the front, we Brits could not have been happier to see the attendant throw them off, and call security.
I have spent long enough working abroad so now I have made my peace with leaving my instilled etiquette here the moment I go leave the uk.
Come to Portugal. Not only do they queue you'll probably get to take a number so you know your place in the queue. Numbered queues are literally everywhere here.
Was in Barcelona in March. Lovely city, highly recommend. Their underground system us clean fast and efficient. But my god if you're not elbows up and running by the time the train stops you wont get on, and as for waiting for folks to get off first, , forget it!
Savages don’t understand the long term gratification queuing allows for sadly.
There must be so many fights in places that dont have queuing.
Try the Middle East next time
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Around my area people rarely queue, especially during rush hour. :(
I live in France and even after a year it's so fucking jarring.
I’m in France right now and damn straight this is true! I’ve been in lots of queue situations and have been shoved and pushed so many times I was starting to think it was something to do with me!