Queueing, the Curse of the British
One thing1 that visitors to this country probably find odd is the British obsession with queueing (or standing in line for any North American readers). Of course, people in other countries form queues or lines for things, but I donât think Iâve ever visited anywhere else where it has become such a pervasive part of social behaviour.
I was thinking about this this morning, while waiting for the bus. The obvious, orderly queues are fairly easy to get to grips with: join the end, and donât under any circumstances attempt to push in ahead of anyone elseâdoing so will only result in holes being burned in the back of your skull by the people behind you, and a chorus of âtuttingâ and sub-vocal muttering about your lack of manners. No, the tricky blighters for the novice queuer are the crypto-queues. Crypto-queues can form anywhere that the queue is not physically constrained into a straight line, but seem to be particularly common at certain bus stops in Oxford where people approach the stop from either side. The vital thing to remember is that just because there doesnât appear to be a line, it doesnât mean that there isnât a queue. Everyone in the loose cloud of people waiting knows exactly the order of arrival of all of the other members of the cloud.
When the bus arrives, this order is adhered to by subtle use of body language. If you happen to be nearer to the bus, but someone further away arrived at the stop before you, you signal permission for that person to board ahead of you by stepping back slightly and inclining your head towards them. Each person performs this ritual towards the person before them in the crypto-queue, and the cloud unreels itself rather gracefully into an ordered embarkation. You occasionally get people who donât spot the signals, and they get holes burned into the back of their skulls in the time-honoured tradition. Elderly ladies are particularly proficient at this form of social enforcement.
1 Perhaps that should be âone of the many things”â¦
1
I sympathise about the bus queues. Here in London itâs the same scenario but with less manners. Occasionally it has been known to descend into an undignified scrum as we surge towards the doors.----- The pub bar: the archetypal cryto-queue, where there is not only no discernable physical order, but micro-crypto-queues form if [as is hopefully the case] there is more than one member of staff serving. People who donât adhere to the unwritten rules and indicate that someone who arrived before them is to be served first, bug the hell out of me.
by David @ 21/04/2004 9:04 pm • Permalink •
2
This must be something that has been inherited by the Australians as well - I live in Melbourne, and that bus crypto-queue scenario sounds very familiar.
by Megan @ 22/04/2004 12:05 am • Permalink •
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Thatâs great observation - Iâm having fun with the railway system, where everyone stands parallel to the approaching train, but of course there are less doors than passengers, so itâs part-scrum, part tacit politeness.
by Mr.D. @ 22/04/2004 6:04 am • Permalink •
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The Gentlemenâs Hairdressers. Where the crypto queue is an art form!!!Particularly where one part of the waiting area is slightly obscured from the otherâ¦..
by Zimmer @ 22/04/2004 11:04 pm • Permalink •
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Rob: Iâm often surprised by how polite the queueing is, especially when itâs busy.
David and Zimmer: Yes, pubs and barbers are also good places to see them (not that I have much experience with barbers
).
Mr. D. The train problem also brings in another element, which is the âideal free distributionâ: at what point do you make a break for the next door down when the crowds at the door nearest you get too big.
by bsag @ 23/04/2004 9:04 am • Permalink •
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To extend the tube analogy a bit further and to maybe take in the trains tooâ¦. I notice that people pick the doors that will open nearest the exit at there eventual destination. So you end up with some parts of the platform packed with rabid, type-A freaks and other doors deserted.
by Rob @ 23/04/2004 5:05 pm • Permalink •
7
That's pretty funny. I think there's an obsession with "queueing" (as you say) here in the States, too - but in a rather different way. There isn't much in the way of an obedience to the social structure of the queue so much as the significance of said queue. The typical areas where these would form (bus station, store, etc.) instead disintegrate into disorganized feeds from which the most aggressive person emerges first. Random lines, on the other hand, can be far more strict, albeit confusing.
Here in the New York City area, it seems as though lines have a tendency to form for very little reason. Often people will fall right behind others merely at the suggestion that there is something worth waiting for ahead. It amazes me the number of times that people (myself included) will foolishly assume that they are in line for tickets or autographs or anything of that nature only to find out that the group huddled in front of them are doing nothing more than standing around.
I swear you could just start standing by a door and hint at the idea of wonders to come and random strangers will fall into line behind you without any consideration to the plans they had previously been attending to. It's a social experiment I would like to conduct someday, if only I weren't so busy standing in other people's queues.
by indieb0i @ 04/05/2004 8:05 pm • Permalink •
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indib0i: Hehe
It's like when you look up toward the top of buildings at nothing, and everyone who passes can't help looking up too.
by bsag @ 05/05/2004 5:06 pm • Permalink •
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