“The British have mastered the concept of the queue like no other country and use it when and where ever they can. Sales, supermarkets, collecting the dole…Queues are a way of life on our little island.” (ICONS comment)

 
It seems a safe bet to say that queuing is heavily embedded into our psyche from childhood. Indeed, with today’s heavily stretched maternity wards with mothers-to-be lining the corridors, it could be said that queuing is conditioned into us almost from birth! But certainly as a child queuing embeds itself as part of daily life pretty quickly. We are taught to be obedient in school and getting (and remaining) in line is a big part of that.

 

Learning the importance of waiting your turn is also an integral part of parental discipline and from a young age most of us are taught to queue for the same reason we are taught to share – it’s about respect, good manners and showing a level of growing maturity.

Queuing skills are passed down from generation to generation – a baton of good manners that is inherent within us as a nation. It’s also not something we really ever question either, it’s simply accepted as a prerequisite in terms of social skills.

 

A cultural truism?

"I have travelled to Europe, Russia, the Middle and Far East and nowhere have I seen the orderly single file queues which are formed in England by people who do not have to be directed into a queue. Could it be the result of all those lessons in forming a single well-spaced queue to enter school from day one and not moving until an order is given? The level of accompanying chairs, drinks, meals, umbrellas which sprout for known or anticipated long term queuing is certainly unique to the English.”  (ICONS comment)

 

Jumping a ladies’ queue for the loo (even more so if you are in fact a man) just isn’t done – we all know that. The same goes for taxis, post offices, airports, bus stops, supermarkets and canteens. Jump them at your peril (OK, usually the worst thing that will be dished out is a dirty look and derisory tut). Nonetheless we do seem to enjoy a reputation for being polite, patient and tolerant ‘get-in-liners’.

Most of us have a story or two about holiday ‘queuing nightmares’ and feel that we are a nation of impeccable queuers at home and abroad - our queuing skills a sight to behold. Indeed, cultural commentator and humorist George Mikes noted, “An Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue of one.”

 

Queuing undoubtedly varies from country to country and it seems fair to say that queuing is a point of cultural difference that sets us apart from our foreign counterparts – in a positive way. If only queuing was an Olympic sport, we’d win hands down!

 

As well as having the art of queuing drummed into us at school as part of growing up into a fully functioning adult, another reason queuing is such a success story in this country is because we seem to share a real sense of pride about it, whereas other countries have deemed it as simply a quaint quirk of ours. Indeed, some visitors to the UK find it at best puzzling, at worst cute.

 

But can we really justly appropriate queuing as our national icon alone? Plenty of orderly queues are forming all over the world, whilst plenty of disorderly queues will be descending into chaos across the UK even as you read this paragraph. So queuing can’t be hailed as a definite British phenomenon, but we do seem to have an innate infinity with it and some would say it is in our blood.

Be prepared

Furthermore, who else goes to the same extreme measures of being fully prepared for long haul waiting quite like us Brits? In true 'be prepared' Scout style, we know that mammoth queues require precise military style preparation and are not to be undertaken lightly. They require proper planning; snacks, Thermos flasks, umbrellas, foldout chairs, not to mention the ability to participate in friendly banter and extreme bladder holding. The long haul queue is the epitome of a self-inflicted endurance test, and not everyone is cut out for it.

The lengths some of us are prepared to go to get into our chosen hot spot, or to see a glimmer of our favourite band/exhibition/sporting event, or to grab ourselves a bargain, shows impressive (if not slightly loony) stoic grit.

Wimbledon, Glastonbury Festival (namely its portaloos), the London Eye, Madame Tussauds, Alton Towers and every florist across the land come close of play on Valentine’s Day, notoriously incur lengthy queues. Not to mention blockbuster art shows, the Pop Idol auditions, the Harrods sale and Primark store openings.

 

Stories of excessive queuing hit the press with surprising regularity, especially if Kate Moss has launched yet another signature collection of miniscule hot pants and spangley waistcoats, or if JK Rowling has eked out yet another Harry Potter instalment.

 

Those of us who refuse to freeze our buttons off in the name of fashion, or to be humiliated by Simon Cowell, or even for a signed copy from JK herself, marvel at the display of endurance (and the slight whiff of desperation) that propels hundreds of people to get in line for hours upon hours of queuing – most often in Baltic conditions, too.

 

Pictures of queues snaking from outside Topshop on Oxford Street to what looks like Angel and beyond, have grown more and more commonplace. In truth, many of these hardcore shoppers are rather savvy and not standing outside on the street in the freezing cold from obscenely early times in the morning for the love of a well-cut jacket. Oh no, many know all too well that a few hours of queue procrastination will pay worthy dividends once their purchases are placed on eBay. And the fact that the orderliness and camaraderie enjoyed in the queue descends into chaos the minute the doors are flung open only adds to the overall experience. After all, queuing is a necessary procedure which offers its own highs and lows.

“Queuing is not just an English Icon - it really is our national sport! The English are drawn to the art of queuing and there are unwritten laws which govern it, like; No pushing in, no excessive grumbling, being as cheery as you possibly can when you get served and so on. Only a nation as reserved, as polite and as distinguished as the English could possibly enjoy queuing!” (Icons comment)

 

Moving on from the subject of our country’s notorious queuing habits, what about line-forming across the globe? At a glance, the Japanese seem to have impeccable queuing etiquette. Without wanting to insult our friends over the Channel, the French could be described as leaving a lot to be desired in the queuing department, and some would say that the Italians and Spanish could be fairly tarred with the same brush.

Unbelievably, in some parts of Zimbabwe you have to pay for the ‘privilege’ of getting in line, as this Standinaqueue blogger attests:

“It is now common that commuters have to pay to queue. If you do not pay for a spot in the queue the touts simply shove you out the way for the person who has. Their retort is that if you have money to travel you have money to queue.”

Social etiquette

 

Payment aside, queuing does make perfect sense. For us it is much more than a time-honoured tradition or a national quirk - something we Brits just like to do to pass the time. It is proof of a civilised society, proof of good manners and stops daily necessities like going to spend a penny or buying your lunchtime sarnie descending into carnage.

Queuing helps stop daily life turning into a free for all – or being a case of the survival of the fittest/biggest/rudest. If going to buy a stamp or the need to relieve yourself meant having to enter into an undignified scrum every time, life would get rather tiresome and we’d all sport elbow-shaped bruises and permanent scowls.

 

Further testament to how well-known we are across the globe for our queuing is the process of foreign students being taught that it is polite, expected, and an English custom to queue before they visit our shores so as not to cause offence or get themselves into hot water. The language school St Giles International get the message across by explaining that:

 

“The English are famous for being very polite. Always join the back of the queue and wait your turn when buying tickets, waiting in a bank, post office or for a bus or train. If you jump the queue in England you are known as a ‘queue jumper’ and although people may not say anything to you, they will make very unhappy noises! If there is any confusion about whether there is one queue or more for several different cashiers, you should still wait your turn and stay behind everyone who arrived before you. English people do not try to get to the front first; they are very fair. You will often hear people saying ‘Who’s next?’ The general rule is that you are next if you were the first person to have arrived in the queue!”

 

Even our bobbies get involved with establishing British social etiquette, Operation Columbus was a 2002 police initiative with language/local schools teaching foreign students visiting the UK to “Be polite, join the queue”.

Ultimately, queuing is not a flippant, eccentric thing we Brits do for the sake of it. It keeps everyone (literally) in line and puts the helps put the civil into civilised society.