Warning: In this blog entry, I will make broad generalizations. I tend to do that a lot normally, but I think this blog entry will go above and beyond that, so I thought I’d post this warning beforehand.

Europeans in general are much much worse at lining up (or ‘queueing up’ as it’s called here in the UK) than Americans. I think the root of the problem is that people out here tend to be slightly more aggressive in their desire to get to the front, whereas Americans will go for politeness, even if they’re not particularly polite people.

An excellent example of this are the McDonalds restaurants out here. It may be that the only McDonalds I’ve been to have been in the heart of London (ergo, small, crowded, and busy), but the registers are all set up in a row on the counter. Customers approach the counter wheverever they think the queue is shortest, and queue up for that particular register. As is human nature, people rarely queue up in an orderly fashion. Some people try to hover between two lines (to get their food quicker), some people bunch up with their friends and form a blob as opposed to a line… you get the point.

Anyway, in this type of scenario back home, most people will maintain a thin veil of politeness. If a person has obviously been waiting longer, most people will defer to them and let them approach the counter first. Occasionally you’ll find an aggressive person who tries to squeeze their way to the front, but it’s actually the exception to the norm.

My experiences in Europe (both in the UK and on the continent) have been to the contrary. People seem extremely aggressive to get to the front as quickly as possible. Several times I’ve been waiting in a line and the person behind me will edge off to the side and start creeping forward, even getting past me and slightly in front of me. Should I delay for even a moment in heading up to the counter when called, this person will seize the opportunity for themselves.

This scenario also plays out when there is no clear line/queue, just a broad counter with several people waiting at various points. I used to work at a grocery store deli back in Seattle, and I saw this all the time. Believe it or not, most people (back home) were fairly polite and would indicate which person had been waiting at the counter the longest. Similar situations in Europe tend to end in whomever shouting their order first getting served first.

Another example is if a new register opens up next to one with a long line. Logic and politeness dictate that the 2nd person in the line should go to the new register (as they have been the ones waiting longest who have not yet been served). However, multiple times I’ve been in such a line when a new register opens up. What usually happens is that a person from the back of the line will sprint to the new register, past the people that have clearly been waiting longer, to order their food. Nothing illegal about that, but it’s something that would very likely get you yelled at in the US.

Perhaps what bugs me most about this is that I’m clearly not being aggressive enough when in a queue. I’ll often politely gesture to the person in front of me to enter the new line, only to find the 5 people behind me have jumped into it. Instead of pushing my way to the front, I’ll wait for for the clerk/cashier to call on the next person.

So, on one of my visits back to the states, if you ever find yourself in line with me and I elbow you in the back of the head and run to the front while you’re on the ground… you’ll understand why and perhaps show some forgiveness.