Queue jumpers

As regards the seats at bus stops ..... I always find it easy to speak to strangers outside so will say that I need a seat and will await my turn anyway!

Elegran

This reminds me of a holiday in Austria. We were on a day trip by coach to the salt mines near Salzburg - four coaches full of tourists, and we had a front seat in the first coach, so had a grandstand view. We stopped at the mouth of a one-way tunnel through the mountains - several miles long, so there was a lengthy pause at traffic lights to let the traffic coming the other way get clear before we were allowed through, then more pause to be certain it was clear. Then on our way, but a short distance in we met a lone car heading towards us on the single track - he had obviously jumped the lights at the far end.

Did our driver give in and reverse back out? No fear - all the other coaches would have had to reverse too. He just kept going and the car driver had to reverse for several miles along a narrow twisting tunnel. The tourists waved cheerily to him as we passed in procession.

I had a similar experience with a very short one-way tunnel under a railway line, I entered with nothing coming the other way but as I was about 75% through a car entered from the other end and insisted on his right of way. You would not believe how badly and slowly I can reverse when the need arises, he was, by the time he passed me purple in the face, blowing him a kiss obviously didn't make him feel any better.

Many years ago I recall being in a small shop with a few people queuing, a woman ran in, grabbed some stuff and jumped to the head of the queue, 'Sorry but I have a train to catch in a minute!' One older man chuckled, 'Nice try love, the station closed six months ago!'. She stormed out, muttering obscenities.

In Norway several years ago I had a flare-up of an illness and needed to see a doctor. We arrived at the local surgery (our insurance company having phoned in advance and explained my symptoms) and after waiting in a crowded room for barely any time at all I was ushered in to see the doctor, leaving my husband supervising the children. The patients then began to complain about me being given priority because I was English - whereupon my husband explained, in fluent Norwegian, that I had been given priority because I was seriously ill and potentially being transferred to the local hospital. I didn't appreciate it at the time, but it's made me smile ever since. It's quite unusual for English people to know Norwegian so they must have been very surprised.

Ali08

She maybe thought there was a favouritism for the other queue, or til person.
Why doesn't the shop make space for 2 queues, or put up signs pointing to where the one queue is so people know for certain?!
That would make much more sense, especially if people in the queues are reluctant to tell waiting people where the queue is!

Sorry, not sure why 7 or 8 people would all queue up at the same till, leaving the other one empty because they preferred a particular till, or liked one checkout assistant over the other.

Do people really behave like that?

When there's a sign on the motorway indicating that a contraflow system will start in, say, a mile and that there will be single line traffic, law-abiding drivers (like me, of course) will get into the correct lane and form a queue. Then you have the morons, usually in big, powerful cars, who think they have a god-given right to join the head of the queue. Some will give way to them, I'm reluctant to do so. This is when queue jumping becomes dangerous. I wouldn't mind betting that the drivers that do this also barge into queues in the supermarket.

This reminds me of a holiday in Austria. We were on a day trip by coach to the salt mines near Salzburg - four coaches full of tourists, and we had a front seat in the first coach, so had a grandstand view. We stopped at the mouth of a one-way tunnel through the mountains - several miles long, so there was a lengthy pause at traffic lights to let the traffic coming the other way get clear before we were allowed through, then more pause to be certain it was clear. Then on our way, but a short distance in we met a lone car heading towards us on the single track - he had obviously jumped the lights at the far end.

Did our driver give in and reverse back out? No fear - all the other coaches would have had to reverse too. He just kept going and the car driver had to reverse for several miles along a narrow twisting tunnel. The tourists waved cheerily to him as we passed in procession.

She maybe thought there was a favouritism for the other queue, or til person.
Why doesn't the shop make space for 2 queues, or put up signs pointing to where the one queue is so people know for certain?!
That would make much more sense, especially if people in the queues are reluctant to tell waiting people where the queue is!

I once had this in a shop and started putting my stuff on the conveyor belt and a man came along from the side hadn't queue up and started putting his stuff up. I said that I hadn't finished putting my shopping up he became very abusive and proceeded a triade of abuse and then turned it on me. I stood my ground and felt sorry for the cashier who I later apologised to as felt she didn't need this.

I was in a queue in the supermarket and a man suddenly popped his things on before mine with the words “you don’t mind do you”. “oh! Yes I do” I said. If he had asked properly I would have said yes.

sodapop

Same here in France, people trying to push in between the social distance gaps. I have perfected my death stare now.

In Ibiza in 1986 went to San Antonio shopping with #1DS queue for return bus was jumped by 2 short round local women who actually pushed my little boy off kerb to get on bus, I shoved my way past them then accidentally stepped back with my full weight on the foot of the one who shoved my son she was shouting but unfortunately I don't speak Spanish.......so I stood where I was..... Needless to say she would not meet my gaze on the bus.... She didn't seem to realize that we were guests in her country and high spending at that! Rude.greedy.

Just sounds thick to me! Like the woman who virtually climbed onto my back early on in pan.without a mask, and when I told her to politely back up she screeched her reply "your wearing a mask so what's your problem?" I replied very clearly "you are. don't you actually know what 2metres looks like?,thicko?" Got a group giggle in Aldi...

I have to agree with you, I find it infuriating when people queue jump, there's no excuse, it's just rude.

I'm a terrible coward; I even apologise to people who push in front.

Hilarybee

So what do gransnetters do when two lanes merge into one on a road? The rule of the road is that both lanes drive to where the road merges and then take turns to enter the lane which is open. But where this situation occurs a long queue usually forms behind the open lane which imo can be quite dangerous. I usually drive to the front and then merge but I often get dirty looks

I was on a road like that recently which even had signs showing how to merge altermately. I was nearing the merging point from the right hand lane and had already started edging left behind the car ahead when two cars overtook me and pushed in. I'm not sure how they did it but I was incensed! The only way I could have stopped it would to move back over and risk hitting them, but I was tempted!

Sadly some people have no patience. In my area there are many single file bridges going under the main railway line towards Paddington. They are all controlled by traffic lights. On two occasions I have stopped at the red light and the car behind has overtaken me and nipped through before the traffic has moved from the other direction. I often keep going if the lights go to amber as there is quite a large margin for error but if I do it is not uncommon for at least one car behind to follow, sometimes two, even though they must have gone through on red!

I never let them get away with it - I just wish others would back me up. Even the staff are cowards (or 'too polite', or just can't be bothered.)

They need to have a clearly roped off queue and then call the next person with "Cashier no..." It works in our post office and in Matalan where there are numerous tills and only one queue!

Yes, unfortunately they do. People don't want to make a scene and these cheeky selfish people rely on that.
That's why staff really need to intervene or there needs to be a clear notice indicating that there is one queue for everyone. Otherwise you just get the brass necked people, such as the woman I encountered, pretending they are perfectly justified in skipping the queue.

Best class act I ever saw - supermarket (won't name) till for 10 items and less. Some numpty with a tolley stacked to the ceiling unpacks his 97 items (so it felt to me) onto the conveyor. The shop assistant - "And which ten items would you like sir?" Fantastic! Applause broke out and he ended up reloading and taking it all to another checkout - it probably took just as long as it would have done to put his stuff through the checkout but it was better entertainment by far! not to mention a refreshing change to see someone with the balls to deal with queue jumpers like him!

How many times have you seen this happen, with hardly anyone complaining or seldom making a fuss? The queue jumpers get away with it most of the time.

Just a chancer ...why bother queuing when you can jump? Most people will just tut and let her get away with it ...she will do it again until someone shames her ...big loud vouce shouting " Hey Missus, there' s a queue here ...!!!"

This is one of the things that really makes me cross, too!
This incident is years ago now - but when I was working, in common with many other working people, I often shopped at the Supermarket in my lunch hour. This day, a man (the majority of shoppers in the queue were women) with a couple of items in his hand, was making his way down a long queue, asking each woman in turn "do you mind if I go ahead of you?" Without exception, each woman said "No" , or "It's fine" etc. I was determined that he would not go past me, as this makes me really cross. When he got to me and asked, I said "Sorry, I'm afraid I DO mind". He answered "but I'm on my lunch break" and I replied "Yes, so am I, and so are most of the people you have just come past!". He waited. Some of the other women even tutted at me, but I WAS shopping in my lunch hour, and the way that this man had come down each person in a long queue, really annoyed me!

Slight tangent, but today we stopped for petrol on the way back from holiday, so we’re not familiar with the local customs. The place to pay was also an M& S Food hall, so was quite busy. There was a queue to get in, controlled by traffic lights. This meant that motorists wanting to pay for petrol had to queue behind people doing their food shopping, thereby causing a queue of cars at the pumps. It would have been helpful if drivers had been allowed to jump the queue, so they could be in and out quickly,

Hilarybee I wanted to ask that because I'm like you! Let's see what others think!

One queue and then being allocated to a till is apparently the fairest way of queuing. Done in European stores quite a bit and a local Morrisons adopted this system at the beginning of lockdown when there was a shopping frenzy with people wanting to hoard. Found it worked great. YANBU that person was a chancer. Why though wasn't there an assistant overseeing the queue thus preventing queue jumping?