To think queuing etiquette is just going to pot!

[SignYourName]

I'm British and there's nothing I like more than a good queue (except perhaps a nice cup of tea and a sit down) but it seems to me that the skill of forming a proper queue is going to the dogs.

Every morning at my regular bus stop I have to contend with people who were there before me standing at the wrong end of the shelter and leaving a big space at the bus end, so if I want to be protected from the mild drizzle I have to "push in" ahead of them, or people wandering about and not standing still. I mean, the odd shifting from foot to foot while sighing and looking at one's watch is one thing (I'm not a monster) but really people, make an effort.

WIBU to sneak along one night and mark out neat little numbered squares so there can be no confusion or ambiguity?

We have lived in Dubai and Moscow; in neither place is queuing respected. In both countries DH and I have shocked pusher-inners at the tills by simply removing their basket and walking in front of them, sometimes accompanied by an audible "NO" - which seems to transcend any barriers of language and culture.

I sometimes employ what I call my Russian queuing technique in situations where correct British queue etiquette is not being observed. That is extend elbows as wide as possible and sharpen their points, then out manoeuvre any errant rule breaker.

Oh dear, I sound like a one woman queue police force.

I have lived in italy for 20 years. My one woman queue revolution may take some time. Although my post office man always chortles at me as people come to blows because the queue jumper has been challenged and refused to acknowledge his/her heinous crime.

See, in italy you don't even have appts for doctors here. Everyone just turns up and waits, and argues, until they get seen. I've sometimes pondered if there would be money to be made in some kind of consultancy work.offering queue training. ...

Christ! Here in Islington no-one queues at bus stops - it's a free for all and survival of the fittest! Worst are the young teenage school-kids - I've seen one 'young lady', in school uniform, literally elbow out of the way a very old codger with a couple of walking sticks. But as an old codger myself, once on the bus, I'm often offered a seat, usually by young Asian or black gentlemen, middle aged ladies and elderly ladies not quite as ancient as I. Stony-faced young women, glued to their i-Whatsits, sitting in the 'Please give up these seats to the elderly and disabled' seats, (often with their bags on the empty place next to them), never offer up their own or their bag's seat!

Signyourname- that's how hospital appts work here. You go, on a designated day, at a designated time and queue (or not) at a designated booth until all the appts have been dished out. Invariably as you reach the front. so you ring your mate, whose dad once did a favour for the appt man, and you get seen before everyone

Christ! Here in Islington no-one queues at bus stops - it's a free for all and survival of the fittest! Worst are the young teenage school-kids - I've seen one 'young lady', in school uniform, literally elbow out of the way a very old codger with a couple of walking sticks. But as an old codger myself, once on the bus, I'm often offered a seat, usually by young Asian or black gentlemen, middle aged ladies and elderly ladies not quite as ancient as I. Stony-faced young women, glued to their i-Whatsits, sitting in the 'Please give up these seats to the elderly and disabled' seats, (often with their bags on the empty place next to them), never offer up their own or their bag's seat!

Ooh grandmama, bag-on-seat etiquette is a whole other thread!

Oh GOD!!! I hate people who can't queue! what is the problem!?

DH and I were on holiday recently, stood at a bus stop with our three DS's. Two mid teen boys arrived and when the bus arrived, got on. the buses in that country are very small and everyone crams on, they took the only remaining room and we had to wait for the next one, I seethed all day about that!!

Hell hath no fury like somebody trying to push in in front of a Que of pensioners at a busy stop

My nans army of OAP friends all pile on the bus with there shoppers taking all the wheel chair and pram room.

We were at Kennedy space centre in Florida; joined a queue behind an elderly Korean couple, a few mins later a couple of their family turned up and motioned to us if they could join their already queueing oldies. Thinking 2 more people in front of us won't be an issue we motioned them forward. As the bus turns up the rest of them all turned up and proceeded to push in front.... I counted 34! And to piss on my bonfire even more, no more room on the bus hence we then waited another 15 min

Here in Spain it may look like a scrum in the butchers but each new person who arrives in the shop asks,"Who is the last?" and that way we all know who is in front of us and order is maintained!

Ah but they do that in Italy too, in theory. And then proceed to not respect the who-is-the-last thing anyway. They always have a list of spurious reasons as to why they can't wait. Daughter in labour, cat up tree, lentils boiling over on stove.
And if you do challenge a pusherinner the other people all tut AT YOU and mutter "pffft it's only a queue!"

try to get the bus at a crowded multi-bus-station (stratford london).
no queues
lots of ellbows
no 'thank you driver'

At a waterpark in Portugal a few weeks ago, my friends and I had been queuing for a ride for literally 45 minutes (I know, more fool us etc. etc.) when a dreadful man with a head camera, of all things, pushed in front of us. Just waltzed up from the back and pushed in at the front. I was almost gibbering with fury, and only managed to get out, 'That's...that's not fair!!' He replied, 'Life isn't fair', and then shot happily down the slide.

I love queuing.

Train station ticket machines/oyster machines: You can SEE that we're all doing the 'one big queue' thing at the ticket machine, you KNOB. We're not IDIOTS all queueing for ONE machine and NO you have not CLEVERLY stepped up to a 'short queue' you have QUEUE JUMPED and now SOMEONE ELSE is PRETENDING that they think it's a second queue as well and now EVERYTHING IS RUINED YOU ASSHOLES.

In our shop queuing is a thing of beauty... we have 3 tills, they are quite far apart, but people will still find a way of making one line for all 3,

usually after a bit of a free for all - all 3 tills with lines - the next in one line will stand next to a sale bin between 2 of the tills, and then the whole queuing thing takes on a life of its own - people will not go to the other tills until after the person by the sale bin has chosen their till and it morphs into one line - I think people like the fairness of it.

Wait, you're supposed to queue for the bus? So if I get there 5-10 min before bus due am supposed to stand still in one place and wait? I mill around looking in shop windows or whatever or just wall around the general area until the bus arrives then get on the bus as everyone else is. Honestly never occurred to me that buses require queing.

YANBU, queueing standards are going to the dogs. Don't get me started on people who start the queue 10ft from the ticket machine/cashpoint.

I like the one queue for 3 banks of self scan we do at my local supermarket. It's fairer and I've been well known to point out the 'this is all one queue' on more than one occasion...!

Nalia. Yes. that's how queues work properly.

Queuing for buses. In America, we just sort of cluster around the door and neatly pile in. No pushing or shoving. It looks a bit chaotic, but everyone is actually pretty polite since no one is sure who "should" be getting on first.

I spent 90 minutes to get served in McDonald's in Malaysia. I just couldn't not queue even though it was a free fall I was in knots trying to work out who I was behind and who was behind me. My, starving, dh was bemused and thought I should have just barged to the front like everyone else but I just couldn't.

Tikimon So the person who arrived at the bus stop first might not get on the bus if it becomes full with the others in the queue?

I was in the supermarket the other day. Chap in front decided our queue was moving too slowly, so switched to the checkout next door. I moved up and started to unload my trolley onto the conveyor belt. Next door checkout decided they were closing, so chap tried to muscle back in to his original place in our queue, in front of me, and got a bit cross when I said "Erm, excuse me, I think you need to go to the back of the queue". He says "Oh, but I was in this queue and got redirected". No, sorry, you weren't redirected, you chose to leave, then tried to push back in. Talk about hedging your bets!

I lived I Germany in the 80s, and travelled to work on the Streetcar (bus/tram-type thing). One morning, I was the only person on the platform at 7:00am. Streetcar arrived at 7:15 - a load of schoolchildren arrived from nowhere, pushed and shoved their way on to the car until it was full, the car left full of children with me still standing on the platform. Furious cannot describe how I felt - and I was then late for work, as had to wait for the next car.