The British are used to a good queue, but there are those still who break the rules of queuing. It is interesting to note than in America, a ‘queue’ is practi
cally unheard of: they call it ‘standing in line’. I was once told – and I’m not sure how true this is – that ‘queue’ is not in all American dictionaries. That said, the rules still apply wherever you are!
Cough cough, its my ‘cue’ to mention Nigeria (possibly this applies to other African or Caribbean nations) and ‘queuing non etiquette’ …now where do I start?
Best place, one the international entrances to the country, Murtala Muhammed airport..
Probably the most frustrating of all queuing faux pas is queue jumping (or worst still: Paying people to jump and making the payment in full view of everyone). Quite simply: don’t!
If you are with travellers, enter the queue as one group. Don’t take it turns to reserve a place for your entire party. Think how annoying it must be to think, after a long time waiting, you finally reach the front except for the one man in front of you and suddenly, out of nowhere, his five relatives join him, making your wait even longer.
This is especially prevalent at the airport (and more recently I experienced it when queuing at a party in a paid line to have my ‘GELE’ tied. The Nigerian lady tying the geles held a physical and ’invisible’ queue! She would tie a gele then make call or text to ‘others’ to let them know they should, “do quick” as, “the queue is getting longer!”. Then 3 or 4 would appear from nowhere (with no apology) and proceed to sit in the chair and ‘push in front of the queue’ (leaving us standing there to feel as if we are the invisible people)!!….
Please all, be mindful of queuing etiquette (it does exist)! Now to do a write-up on car traffic jam etiquette..
By Lola Awofadeju Alli
Thanks for the awesome tips.