It is not true that queuing in Britain has died out. Only the bus queue seems to have dissolved more or less into a continental free-for-all. Go to a post office, or bank, or supermarket check-out and you will find the custom is thriving, with special rails and tapes to keep the line straight.

Queue-jumping is a low and mean offence, like tipping old age pensioners out of deckchairs. Not fame, nor wealth, not merit nor urgency will get you to the front of the queue. Only time. And small shuffling steps. And queuing is an opportunity to review your life, or at least your purchases. A queue in a shop can provide important cooling off time for the hot-headed shopper ("What am I doing? I don't really want this red PVC mini-skirt!") Though you may be unhappy to join the end of a long queue, the reward is being able to turn round later and see how that unhappiness has passed back to the faces that have accumulated behind you.





Expressions to learn
First come, first served.

Avoid saying
I'm in a hurry. Do you mind if I go first?