Current Events > Genuine question about the stereotype of English people and queueing

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So you all probably know about the stereotype of how we love to queue

But I'm wondering, what exactly do you guys do? In a situation where a lot of people are waiting for something in a fixed location, it seems there's no real alternative to just lining up and getting through people in order

Haven't lived in America so I don't know how it goes down there
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We just mob around things and then stampede
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We call them lines
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We stand in a vertical line
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CoolBeansAvi posted...

We just mob around things and then stampede

i've seen this with trains, buses and other stuff while in anerica
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CoolBeansAvi posted...

We just mob around things and then stampede

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English people standing in a line is a stereotype?
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Frostshock posted...

English people standing in a line is a stereotype?

no but as in we would default into queuing in a line if the situation calls for it

edit: actually thinking about it, yes, it is a stereotype. and we take it seriously.
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We start clapping.
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It's best described as a clusterfuck
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Antifar posted...

We call them lines

The stereotype is more than just a variance in syntax though
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I'm in Canada, but when the bus comes, half the time people line up like proper English gentlemen and the other half, they crowd the door of the bus like they're civilians in a war-torn region trying to grab food rations distributed from a UN truck.
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SGT_Conti posted...

I'm in Canada, but when the bus comes, half the time people line up like proper English gentlemen and the other half, they crowd the door of the bus like they're civilians in a war-torn region trying to grab food rations distributed from a UN truck.

Can confirm. On the routes I take, its usually old people and young adults that don't give a fuck about the line.
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In England we don't actually queue for buses as it's not really a fixed point it stops. Whoever is nearest gets on then next nearest and so on, no pushing. So a kind of queuing I guess

This is just to speed up the whole process as everyone on and off the bus just wants it done ASAP and to move on
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It doesn't stop in a fixed point here either, but I meant when the bus arrives and people are boarding. Sometimes it's just a mess of people crowded around the door. I prefer it when people just form a line going along the side of the bus as they wait for people to scan their card and get on. It takes about the same amount of time no matter how people form up, really, but it just looks a lot cleaner and I won't have someone just push right in front of me to get on the bus even when I'm right in front of the door.
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Do you mean form a line before a bus arrives? As when it has already arrived that's what most people do, form a line down the side or just out in the direction of the street and wait their turn
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queue up, lads

I didn't know they did that in England. Do you guys even need barrier made queues for theme park rides?
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I mean after it's arrived. Sometimes it's a line like this:


But other times it's chaos and looks like:

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There are barriers to stop people jumping in past the security checks or whatever they are I think, but the queue would be fine without it. When it's long to go past any barriers we just form a zig zag queue or whatever is necessary given the surroundings/amount of space
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SGT_Conti posted...

I mean after it's arrived. Sometimes it's a line like this:


But other times it's chaos and looks like:

It can look like the latter sometimes when there's loads of people but I think that's down to not seeing where the queue actually is or if it's been formed yet, rather than animalistic behaviour
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Deuce_Deuce_ posted...

It can look like the latter sometimes when there's loads of people but I think that's down to not seeing where the queue actually is or if it's been formed yet, rather than animalistic behaviour

It's pretty much always like that in America.
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Nobody ever heard of this shit.
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I hear it a lot from Americans, and fellow Europeans too
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also this pretty much sums it up

http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/british-people-display-amazing-queuing-etiquette-without-being-told-a3528366.html
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i love queueing

Parappa09 posted...

also this pretty much sums it up

http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/british-people-display-amazing-queuing-etiquette-without-being-told-a3528366.html

Those people are awesome.
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I guess we kinda crowd around it and just let whatever happens happen. It's not total chaos though. I can't tell you how it works but it just kinda does.
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Asherlee10 posted...

You get people that will push their way up to the front and then be confrontational when they are called out for cutting.

weapon_d00d816 posted...

I guess we kinda crowd around it and just let whatever happens happen

every time I go abroad I see both those outcomes. whereas in britain we'd just queue the fuck up

trust me, if brits went to another country they'd be surprised and most likely scared to see the lack of 'natural instinct to queue' when outside of home
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Asherlee10 posted...

Parappa09 posted...

if brits went to another country they'd be surprised and most likely scared to see the lack of 'natural instinct to queue' when outside of home

I wish the world would take a page out of England's book for queueing. It irritates the hell out of me that people won't do it. You should see the people at the self-check out at my grocery store, they just stand in groups and try to figure out who was there first IF everyone is being polite. Most of the time, entitled people just cut in front of others.

The report also includes a list of queuing "no-nos" which no one should ever do in a queue in Britain. At number one, queue skipping is the ultimate faux pas as it goes against the British social system of linear queuing and the nationally recognised "first come, first served" principle. According to Prof Furnham, the very public nature of queuing and as such, queue skipping, sparks a huge sense of injustice amongst all members of the queue.
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Parappa09 posted...

also this pretty much sums it up

http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/british-people-display-amazing-queuing-etiquette-without-being-told-a3528366.html

I really wish people were conditioned to do this in Canada.
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