I was standing in line at a check-out counter the other day when I slowly came to the realization that although the queue seemed to be progressing I decidedly wasn’t. The reason was simple. Although I had been sticking to the basic principle of waiting my turn, it seemed that my fellow shoppers were quite ignorant of this concept and kept slipping in ahead of me. As we were all dressed the same and had few distinguishing external features, other than handbags and children, it was fairly easy to queue-jump inconspicuously.
In the light of my new discovery and with a keener sense of vigilance I pounced upon a lady (distinguishing feature: Orange handbag) who tried to shove herself in front of me. I explained to her that the reason that I had been standing in the same spot for the past 15 minutes was not due to any spiritual attachment to it, nor of the inability to uproot myself, but because there was a system to be followed so that the process of being served would be rendered more effectively.
She stared at me blankly, looked me up and down with curiosity and proceeded to ignore me whilst resuming the position that she had usurped. All of this without the slightest hesitation or embarrassment. I was furious. Another woman (distinguishing feature: White leather-effect handbag) then barged in front of me. Exasperated, I decided to take action.
The salesman, who had attended my lecture on the great social merits of queuing, then began to “render effective service” to Ms. Orange Handbag. “When in Rome,” I thought as I aggressively placed my goods on the counter in front of hers, “do as the Romans do.” What then ensued was a united and ferocious attack by Ms. Orange Handbag as to how she had been first and Ms. White Leather-Effect Handbag as to how I was just pushing in.
To add insult to injury, the salesman (by this time an ace student in the fundamentals of standing in line) declared, “Execyooz me, but there is a queue!” Such basic lack of consideration is evident in much of the Eastern Hemisphere.
And then again, there are of course those unwritten rules, especially practiced at airports, whereby queue-barging is dependent upon nationality and social status. I have been witness to several acts of racial discrimination standing in line at Immigration and Customs where officials have alighted upon individuals with Caucasian features and singled them out for deferential treatment by sending them to the front of the queue. And what of their poor dark-skinned cousins?
Well, if they don’t queue properly they are sent to the back of the line with a similar lack of reverence reserved for errant schoolchildren. I will never forget one incident in particular during Ramadan when someone of Indian origin was standing at the wrong counter meant for GCC passport holders. This was not done in order to get ahead, but most certainly out of genuine ignorance.
In what I felt was an outrageous miscarriage of justice, the immigration officer banished the Indian to the back of the longest line. This in spite of the fact that he had been waiting his turn for quite a while just like everybody else. The same official did not bat an eye when three UK passport holders presented themselves at his counter shortly afterward in a very obvious effort to avoid the lengthy wait altogether.
Most disturbing of all, and often with fatal consequences, is the flagrant lack of adherence to queuing in an orderly fashion on the roads. In order to avoid being stuck in a traffic jam, many drivers wishing to go straight, left or any foreseeable way other than right block the right-hand lane causing further congestion. All sorts of daring driving techniques are practiced in the name of moving one car ahead, irrespective of the danger or inconvenience caused to others.
What makes our Western counterparts so much more disciplined than us?
I was at a hypermarket in London a few years ago in an attempt to purchase a single carton of milk. After having rushed in to get it, and having left my car parked on a double yellow line, I positively despaired as I was confronted by the overwhelming sight of huge overladen trolleys forming long winding queues at the near end of the check-out section. Being flustered and in a hurry, I sprinted down in a blind panic to the far end. To my utter astonishment there were two lone cashiers chatting among themselves whilst waiting for customers to come their way. It appears that while we in the East are so preoccupied with the prospect of getting out of a queue, they in the West are equally keen to join one.
(Lubna Hussain is a Saudi writer. She is based in Riyadh.)
