Queue jumping dilemma!

One person asked if she could go back to her place in our queue

Yesterday in a supermarket cafe I paid for a coffee, joined the queue by the machine then realised I hadn't picked up a mug. When I returned to the queue the man behind me had closed up the queue tightly, he then smirked at me 'Not letting you back in' look on his face. It was all I could do not to burst out laughing when his tray fell off the shelf as he was doing his third coffee landing his coffees, sandwiches and cakes onto the floor. Even funnier, I could see it was going to happen and could have stopped it.

Stupid reply

I think that's quite funny. I don't like people who feel entitled to queue jump or think their reasons/excuses are more important than those of everybody else in the queue.

The only times I think it's OK to let someone in is, for instance ,if there was only me with a trolley-full with just one person behind me with a single item - I will sometimes invite them to quickly do their transaction before loading my lot onto the conveyor belt. I've done this a few times over the years but wouldn't invite someone or a friend to hop in front of a lot of other waiting people.

I'd say good on you for having the guts to put things into an acceptable order again - well done you.

At one of these resorts where you queue to see Mickey Mouse my GS and I ended up further ahead of his parents and sister by about 6 people. He refused to go back to mum and dad (he is prone to tantrums) but they wanted to take photos of all the family together. They sort of jumped the queue to join me but by then I was too wound up to say thank you to those visitors inbetween which I regret.

There's a cashier in my local store who when opening another till will shout "next in the queue please", she's actually refused to serve those who jump in.

I hate queue jumpers too but if someone behind me only has a couple of things and I have a trolley or basket full I always let that person go through first, just good manners. I think one of the worst places for queue jumping is waiting to get served at a bar. I am only 5 foot 2 inches tall but any man no matter how big or taller than me dares to try to order before me takes his life in his hands. lol.

Years ago while staying in Holland with Dutch friends we were waiting at a bus stop. When the bus arrived I stood still to wait for the people who were there before us to get on. My friends told me off and said just push in, as no-one queues here. So is polite queueing just an English thing?

Your post made me laugh. Well done. You really took a stand. It would have been very amusing to see it happen. And nobody saying anything! How very British. I too can get annoyed by queue jumpers and have confronted them on occasions in the distant past though I suppose it is a sort of madness on my part really. Once I remonstrated when a woman with a big trolley was actually using it to push a man with a small basket who had been there before her away from the till. He thanked me. It was a supermarket Near Marble Arch in London where many of the shoppers were foreign and perhaps were not used to queuing but were from a culture where you competed in a crush. A bit like bus stops became here. I suspect I have also been a queue jumper myself in some circumstances wearing a different hat though.

I accidentally queue jumped once in the post office. The woman was standing so far back that I didn’t realise there was a queue until I heard her say “the cheek!” and I slunk back behind her.

I encouraged the woman in front of me to be 1st in line when a new till opened, instead of hopping in myself. She dithered saying, No all these people in front should go 1st. Meanwhile the people behind me leapt in and we were actually further back than before!!! Never again.

When there are two tills, I plonk myself in the middle. I have shopping bags sticking out of the side and make myself as big as possible so no one can get passed to jump in front.

I was in a long queue at a cafeteria in Moscow when the woman in front invited a group of friends to join her. I told them there were many people behind us and they should go to the back of the queue, they meekly did so and the person in front shot me a nasty look before joining them. I do quake after such boldness, but when I am riled!

I often pop into the nearby small supermarket for just a few things. I am always surprised and very grateful if someone in front of me with a trolley full beckons me to go in front of her. That’s the sort of queue jumping I like!

I was in M&S Food Hall in my Lunch break (several years ago), only a basket full, when an elderly lady, obviously retired, asked to go in front of me as "she only had a couple of items", I politely pointed out that I was on my Lunch break so no she couldn't go in front of me. I hate queue jumpers, when I was 15 I was in the local bakers when some-one pushed in, I loudly pointed out that I was there first & there was a queue, I've never been a shrinking violet.

Well done EMMF1948 I'm proud of you.

I have however said to others who have a couple of items & I've had a full trolley "would you like to go first?", I always get a lovely thank you. Since I retired I try to avoid food shopping during the middle of the day.

My pet hate is people who hover between 2 queues and then slide into the one moving fastest. A woman did this to me in Lidl once saying in a loud indignant voice "excuse me but I WAS here first". I suppose you have to admire her nerve.

I was a bit pathetic last Wednesday; admittedly I was very tired at the time. I went to a business promotion meeting which was held in a bar with £5 entrance fee and a 'free' drink. I left after queueing patiently but unsuccessfully for 20 minutes to pay my entrance fee - (as others barged their way to the front to order their drinks) - and watching the bar staff running about trying to keep up with the a variety of drinks orders within the deadline of 7.30 for the start of the meeting.

I think I had expected to hand over a fiver and select a drink from 3 trays - maybe white and red wine or a soft drink.

To be fair, I was already tired when I set off for the (evening) meeting and I may well have persevered otherwise. The organisers' meeting people at a table as they arrived and ticking them off a list would have given the organizers information about those who did or didn't come and, again I may have felt welcome and stayed on. Hard to say… I WAS very tired…. I do realise the the seasoned bar visitors would have just entered the 'survival of the fittest' fray of sharpest elbows and loudest voice to get their drinks and the bar setting lent itself to that. I think, though, I was not just physically tired but mentally tired of all the rudeness, lack of awareness and self absorption that I now see on a daily basis....

well done - love it!

Bravo!

wow. brilliant

This used to annoy me too specially when trying to shop in your lunch hour but as I got older I became like seedragon I ceased to care.Now I am retired my attitude has changed.
If there is someone immediately behind me who I recognise as being in their lunch (same jumpy hasty way I was) I always let them through however much they have specially if there is another pensioners behind her.
And apologise to them saying it’s great being retired isn’t it no pressure to rush your shopping I always get a grateful thank you and never has the person behind ever complained just agree that as pensioners it great to be able to be more laid back.
I would have been in stitches if I had been in ananimous’s queue sorry if the offends

I remember being in a single queue in a shop when I told someone who joined the queue at the front that there was a queue and she should take her place at the rear. Can't recall my exact words, but I believe I was polite but got a mouthful for being rude (and queue jumping isn't rude?) and not one of the other people she had pushed in front of said a word!!

Unanimous you are a star.

The bus stop thing...it was a few years ago but I was unfortunately catching a bus at a stop full of school kids. Bus arrived and there was a scrum to get on. As I went to pay my fare the startled driver asked how on earth I had managed to get on. I just smiled and said it had been simple because for 7 years I had been one of those kids and had plenty of practice!!

Brilliant, made me smile when I read this. How clever !

I was at the front of a queue of about 10 people with my shopping basket, when a very elderly lady shuffled past us all and got served. The cashier looked apologetic but I think we all thought it was quite funny.