The Messy Affair of Queues

Let’s face it – we Sri Lankans are multi talented. We know exactly what is going on in everybody’s life but our own and at the same time we are as oblivious as dolmens to our surroundings and queues are most definitely not our strong point.

Here is a recap of some of the most eye brow raising and giggle provoking yet annoying moments I or my friends have encountered in the recent past.

People elbowing their way in while saying ‘Excuse’. Honestly, elbowing your way through is bad enough without adding insult to injury by saying ‘excuse’ instead of ‘excuse me’. It is almost as if the person who was elbowed away is non existent and whatever his/her reason is, to be in that queue is not important. Next time, shall we first say ‘Excuse Me’ and allow the person who is in our way to respond before shooing them away forcibly, ladies and gentlemen?

Cutting through haphazard queues is another deal breaker. Just because the set up isn’t geared for multiple people or there are no demarcations to show in which direction the queue should be, does not mean that you can descend upon the scene like Spiderman. Are other people waiting to be served? If so, where are they? If you cannot figure it out, please ask! Ignorance is NOT bliss.

Pushing and throwing people off balance is so tacky that two of my friends and I walked out of a queue where this happened. Not only were people being shoved off balance, but someone who had supposedly quit the queue and rejoined after a few minutes actually had the audacity to try and use me as the judge of their misdeeds and told me in Sinhala to confirm that they were in fact in the queue just behind the three of us. My family will attest to the fact that I am generally quite blind and even if the right answer to this question yielded a million dollars, I would not know the answer. Anyway, I refused to answer and my friends nudged me to say that we should probably leave and so we did! I must say that felt grand – we didn’t really need to be there, so we did not miss much. However, I do understand that people cannot just walk out of queues like that, so let’s bring in a culture of not pushing or shoving please.

Using your single slot in the queue to bring in a flock of friends and family – and yes, when you throw in our extended families, we are a huge crowd. Politely asking the person behind you whether you may add one more person who was not in the queue is acceptable, but really, not much more than that. If it is a planned late entry, I would say, inform the two or three people who join the queue after you that you intend to hold a spot for a friend/ family member.

If you can think of other misdeeds at queues, please write to me at fullofetiquette@gmail.com.