Re: What happens if you queue jump in Britain?

Isn't it funny how we British are a quiet lot when it comes to complaining about anything. We are renowned for not liking to make a fuss. But.... stand in a queue and someone pushes in, God Help Them!
You'll most likely first hear several tutting sounds from the queue, and dozens of eyes boring into the back of the culprit's neck. Thankfully though, there is always one hero standing in the queue with more courage than the rest of us, who won't hesitate to tell the queue jumper that this is a queue and to get to the back.

We British are indeed a strange breed. Queueing is something that is in our DNA. I guess it must be something to do with our reputation for fair play and politeness.
It's not that people from other European countries (Spain excluded) are deliberately rude, it's more likely that, unlike us Brits, they are not taught from a young age that queue jumping is a capital offence!! and they don't know any different.

Re: What happens if you queue jump in Britain?

Your post above made me laugh. HWMO is like a devil possessed at roadworks with one lane open and we have been patiently waiting in the queue to proceed forward through the roadworks. Guaranteed, there will always be those b.....y drivers who sneak up in the other lane and try to muscle in on the queue just before the roadworks!

HWMO is a sight to behold honestly! If I had a swearbox on my knee it would be full within 5 minutes. He is always determined on no account is he going to let those (ahem) in, and you should hear him if any other driver does!. I just don't recognise the man I married!!

Re: What happens if you queue jump in Britain?

LD, I was trying to think of any other time queue jumpers have affected me, and your post brought it all back!

Not long after I got married, we went to stay in a lovely 4- star hotel in Cal D'or in Majorca. (this was posh for us back then as we were normally a 3 star in either Magaluf or Palma.

No offence intended to our continental cousins but it wasn't until we arrived at the Hotel on the first day and went to lie on the sunbeds by the pool (yes, there were spare - that was really posh)! but we quickly realised that almost every other guest was German! I couldn't detect an English voice anywhere! Still, I certainly didn't mind as the Germans are renowned for being very particular with where they stay.

Anyway, HWMO and I had been out for for the day the next day and arrived back about three-quarters of an hour before dinner.
The dining room was at the end of a long corridor that the Hotel used as a card room, complete with its baize green table tops and packs of cards on display. So after a quick sloosh in the room, we went downstairs about half an hour before dinner. We were so hungry, we decided to have dinner first, then shower and change for the evening.

Well, when we reached the corridor there wasn't a soul around. we walked down the to the dining room doors and chose a card table right outside, pleased that we would be first in the queue through the doors.

We played a couple of games of Patience whilst waiting for the dining room doors to be opened on the hour. About ten minutes before opening, we looked up the corridor to see loads of people walking towards us, so HWMO said "Quick! get in line or they will all get in there before us". So we stood up and formed the beginning of a queue with us at the head of it. the people milled around us and I looked questionably at HWMO as if to say what's going on!. By the time a Waiter came to unlock the dining room double doors, the German crowd behind us left us both standing as they pushed and shoved their way past us to head for the best tables.

We were first in the queue, yet we must have been about the 14th and 15th person to actually pass through the dining room doors! I couldn't believe it! I was so annoyed, they may well have been posher than we all those years ago, but I wanted to shout at them, Learn some manners!

LOL, Your post just reminded me.

Re: What happens if you queue jump in Britain?

Aye, the bastards. And there's always one idiot who'll let them get away with it too. It happens all too regularly round my way especially at what they call the `Unna Way`. Right-hand lane traffic towards Wakefield, left-hand lane towards Leeds (which is always empty) so these bastards shoot down the left lane and barge into the right lane into a gap left by some idiot driver. Bastards.

Re: What happens if you queue jump in Britain?

This reminds me of a BFF. We were about 15 and had turned up the the swimming pool where there was a massive queue to get in. BFF noticed people coming out of the exit and said let's go in that way. I was aghast but we did and queue jumped to the front without any of the queuing folk or staff noticing. I realised that this was not ethical but it was smart. Same as when cars don't bother queuing like me but push in right at the front of a filter lane taking advantage of the better nature of others. It's a case of seeing an opportunity and taking a chance. It's not nice maybe but that's life.

Re: What happens if you queue jump in Britain?

I wait patiently in queues. I wasn't always so patient in my younger years. I find that others, in general, are polite.

Re: What happens if you queue jump in Britain?

I don't know why, in pubs, they don't have the same sort of single line queuing that post offices sometimes have. The sort of thing they have at airports, where you're forced to wind your way along in single file. Pubs are the worst offenders for queue jumping and chaotic service.

Re: What happens if you queue jump in Britain?

ll
Yes indeed eccles, pubs and clubs are notorious for not queueing. We ran a pub for a few years and one of the many rules we instilled in the staff to avoid punch ups at the bar was to remind them to be on the ball always and ensure they knew who was at the bar first to be served, who was immediately after them, even if others had pushed in front of them, never to assume that they knew best by just serving the prat because he was stretching his arm across the bar with a £20 note between his index and middle finger! and never forget to look directly at the customers before asking Who's Next? You would be surprised how much difference that made when blokes were standing several deep along the bar, all waiting to be served. Okay, no doubt, a lot of lies were told because some people were too polite to complain about others pushing in, but WE weren't going to assist them in any way.

We had a really busy Northern Soul Pub complete with doormen, but never once did we have a problem with anyone accusing another of pushing in at the bar, even though there was never any semblance of a queue! mainly because the staff were on the ball with who was next to be served every time.