Foreign students in Britain to be schooled in queuing

AFP via Daily Telegraph (Aus.) ^ | September 24, 2007

[Constitutionalist Conservative]

Foreign students visiting Britain are to be educated in the etiquette of queuing for buses, after local users complained about them not observing the conventions of standing in line.

Southern Vectis, which operates buses on the Isle of Wight off England's south coast, said it was to contact local language schools following several complaints about the behaviour of young students over the summer months.

"On the Isle of Wight we get lots of foreign language students staying with families," operations manager March Morgan Huws said.

"In their cultures, they do not queue for buses where they live and there is a scrum every time a bus turns up, while in British culture there is a nice orderly queue.

"We have had quite a few complaints from residents who queue up in an orderly fashion then all those foreign students push past them.

"What we have said is that we will work with the language schools to provide some instructions on the etiquette of queuing. We won't be marching the students up and down showing them how to queue, we will just leave it up to the group leaders to pass on the information."

Orderly queuing - as seen during the recent Northern Rock banking crisis - is seen as a quintessentially British convention. One social anthropologist believes Britons are even capable of forming one-person queues at bus stops.

[Eagles Talon IV]

Teaching students how to stand in line? At last the public education sector has engaged in a task that coincides with its ability to perform.

[BenLurkin]

In their cultures, they do not queue for buses where they live and there is a scrum every time a bus turns up, while in British culture there is a nice orderly queue.

Which is one salient reason why Anglo-American society represents the pinnacle of civilization.

[Red Badger]

I hope that includes not riding on the roof of the bus and leaving the goats and chickens at home.................

[Suzy Quzy]

Civilization 101.

[UKTory]

“At last the public education sector has engaged in a task that coincides with its ability to perform.”

Well private sector in this case...

[gridlock]

Foreign students in Britain to be schooled in queuing

"OK, keep your left hand steady and push straight forward with your right..."

[Locomotive Breath]

Lotsa luck. No one’s been able to teach that to the French either.

[blam]

And people wonder why everything seems to be falling apart...all things aren’t equal.

[KarlInOhio]

Orderly queuing - as seen during the recent Northern Rock banking crisis - is seen as a quintessentially British convention.

A nice orderly "walk" on the bank instead of a run.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

I say old man!....Would you please bother to get to then end of the queue?

[AngelesCrestHighway]

Foreign students visiting Britain are to be educated in the etiquette of queuing for buses,.....(terrorists with bombs in your shorts please form a single line.)

[NonValueAdded]

Yep, Asians are especially poor when it comes to queuing.

[Armando Guerra]

This is one of those things we take for granted in this country without realizing it is cultural and does not happen in other countries. I realized this when I went to Italy for a term in college. A friend of mine who was a native Italian picked me up at the airport. The first place I wanted to stop was at a bank to change some traveler’s checks to lira. I was patiently waiting behind a little old lady at the teller window when another person started to crowd next to her at the window and then another came in at the other side. Pretty soon there were about five others at the window in front of me. I turned around and looked at my friend with a befuddled and annoyed expression on my face only to see him laughing hysterically. He finally was able to say that they don’t do lines in his country. Since this was southern Italy there was not a person who came up farther than mid-chest to me. When I started physically grabbing people by the shoulder and pulling them away to get behind the little old lady again they looked up at me and quietly moved. It was an eye-opening experience that taught me not to take it for granted when I now see kindergartners in this country line up at the water fountain.

[LoneRangerMassachusetts]

Which is one salient reason why Anglo-American society represents the pinnacle of civilization.

I can attest after riding the "T" (for the first half of my life) that Americans do not stand in line to board a train, trolly,or bus. And, Charlie is still lost on the MTA

Charlie and the MTA

[LoneRangerMassachusetts]

Which is one salient reason why Anglo-American society represents the pinnacle of civilization.

I can attest after riding the "T" (for the first half of my life) that Americans do not stand in line to board a train, trolly,or bus. And, Charlie is still lost on the MTA

Charlie and the MTA

[LoneRangerMassachusetts]

Which is one salient reason why Anglo-American society represents the pinnacle of civilization.

I can attest after riding the "T" (for the first half of my life) that Americans do not stand in line to board a train, trolly,or bus. And, Charlie is still lost on the MTA

Charlie and the MTA

[stayathomemom]

I had a similar thing happen to me at a department store in Xian, China. They are very comfortable with getting very close to each other and pushing their merchandise papers at the cashier. I realized if I stood there as an American would, I would never get my stuff paid for.

[TheBigB]

,.....(terrorists with bombs in your shorts please form a single line.)

*BigB queues up quietly*

Oh, sorry. I misunderstood. I was thinking, "What I have in my shorts is da bomb!" ;o)

Ba-dump-bump. :)

[Armando Guerra]

I also think the whole “personal space” issue is strictly Anglo. You are right that in other countries they don’t mind crowding up to each other.