In the Queue

[airbolt]

What is the acceptable proximity of strangers in a queue?

I ask because people in queues now seem to think it is perfectly acceptable to stand an inch behind you ( literally breathing down your neck ) or actually touching. A lot of the time there is an element of intimidation.

Thats assuming the person " Behind You " isnt standing beside you at the counter - something that seems more common.

Sorry to sound like " Disgusted of Purley" but I was taught to respect other peoples personal space!

[good-arras]

I totally agree, it really winds me up when people stand too close. There really is no need for it!

[Loosehead]

Yes that's bad but equally frustrating is those who do not move with the queue and have 10 foot gap in front of them. I just walk around and wait for the squeal! What fun!

[Theland]

Life is too fast and furious to allow the possibility of anyone squeezing in - hence breathing down your neck.
And what about people who say they "saved" a place in the queue for somebody else, so that the somebody else just walks in front of you?
how do you handle that one?

[Loosehead]

I usually make them move, theland, physically if necessary. But usually I say something like, "Oi, This is a queue, a British tradition and you join it at the back" usually get's laugh and support from the others in the queue.

[HJT40]

I hate it too. That is why I tell my daughter to move when she stands close to someone when we are in a queue. I also hate it that when I am sat at my desk at work people insist on walking round the desk and standing behind me. I have changed my office to avoid this, but they still walk round and stand behind me. Another one is cars too close behind me, I hate that and not just because it is dangerous!

You are right we all need our own space and we should respect that others do too.

[dot.hawkes]

Oh I get this on a Monday morning when I take my weekly paperwork to post at the main post office, it is pensions day and there is usually a queue of pensioners right down the post office nearly to the front door, usually every other one has a shopping trolley and they use it as a defence weapon or even a WOMD, I wait in line thinking of how my staff are managing whilst I am out, (they are on commission and so I don't send them, they won't earn a living standing in the queue for half an hour) i ring the dept on my mobile when i join the queue to tell them how big the Q is and how long i am likely to be, then about 15 minutes later i ring to apologise for being so long but the Q is slow. I am always being pushed a bit further forward by the person behind, like i can't see the q moving, and then when we get to that elasticed q control bit near the front, they all see an imaginary line that you have to follow around the bend, lol it is so odd, they seem to all have this queueing instinct rather than the instinct to go by the shorter route lol. Grrrrrr I hate that Post Office queue, but more I hate the feel of someone 's shopping back nudging me forward, i pusposefully stay put and wait til i am ready to move, it annoys them.

[Jellybean22]

There's nothing that winds me up more than someone standing too close to me in the queue! Especially at a cash machine.
I also hate it when i move 1 inch forward so the person behind me moves 2! Or people that queue to the side of a queue and you don't know where your meant to stand or who's next! I believe that there is such a thing as queue ettiqutte (sorry if i spelt that wrong) but most people don't seem to care these days. I always give plenty of space to the person in front.

[louisa06]

airbolt - queues... people these days don't know the meaning of them

I was at a bus stop the other the day standing in a so called queue just behind this elderly lady, the bus pulls up and loads of people out of no where just bombard the bus in the process this poor frail lady was having trouble staying on her feet i really felt like saying something but what would have been the point, i would have been told where to go
I thought i wonder what this poor lady thinks
i'm not being funny but most of these people pushing were polish
How times have changed...no respect for the elderly or anyone as a matter of fact.

[Bellringer]

What really p's me off is when there are only 4 people but they stand so far apart the queue is out of the door. Have they all got halitosis/leprosy or what.

[Bobble17]

oooh this bugs me too. I hate it when your in the supermarket and you are being served and the person next in the queue comes and stands next to you when you are packing your shopping - even when the checkout person is still putting your things through the till. And then the person is leaning over you when you type in your pin/opening your purse. Everyone seems to do this, they can't all be potential muggers!