You have been waiting in line for ten minutes. Someone cuts the line in front of you.

Vous faites la queue depuis dix minutes. Quelqu'un vous passe devant.

"Excuse me, I was here first."

Excuse me, I am in line in front of you.

Get very annoyed but wait for someone to say something.

I tell them to go to the back of the line.

I will say "excuse me?"

I would approach and ask them why they cut the line.

I would call them out.

I would glare.

I would judge them

I would say "excuse me, but I have been waiting"

I would think about how rude the person was, how their parents failed at raising them properly, then say and do nothing.

I'll tell him there is a line.

I'll tell him/her where the end of the line is.

If they cut right in front of me, I'd cut right back in front of them. Else, I would ask them to step back.

It depends on the person. If it seems reasonable, I would politely mention to that person that there is a line.

no reaction.

Politely ask that person to return to the back of the line. Complain to an authority if that doesn't work.

say excuse me, but there is a line.

Say: "Excuse me, the end of the line is over there."

Shrug it off. I might have probably done the same if I were, for example, joining my friends in line.

Sigh and say nothing.

start mumbling really loudly and make them feel uncomfortable

tell them to go to the back of line

Tell them to go to the back of the line.

Would tell him that it's my place.

Dites donc, vous ne manquez pas de toupet!

Il y a beaucoup de gens qui attendent, pourquoi ne pas faire comme les autres?

je l'attrape et lui demande gentiment de rester derrière

je l'interpelle

Je l'interpelle et lui demande de faire la queue. Quoi qu'il arrive je ne le laisserai pas passer.

Je l'interpelle et lui demande de retourner à sa place.

Je l'interpelle et lui demande de retourner faire la queue

je le dispute en lui disant que cela ne se fait pas

je le laisse, sauf si je suis énervé ou pressé ce jour là.

Je lui demande de faire faire la queue comme tout le monde.

Je lui demande de respecter les gens qui font la queue et m'assure qu'il repasse derrière.

Je lui demande où il va avant de lui dire qu'il est débile et qu'il ferait mieux de retourner derrière.

Je lui demande s'il me prend pour un aveugle et lui demande de faire la queue comme tout le monde.

Je lui demande s'il pourrait faire la queue comme tout le monde.

je lui dis de passer derrière

je lui fais comprendre qu'il n'est pas le bienvenu.

Je lui fais remarquer son erreur , lui demande pourquoi ou lui montre la fin de la file d'attente

Je lui fais remarquer son irrespect de manière peu fine.

je prends sur moi et je le laisse

Je repasse devant lui/elle sans rien dire

s'il vous plait, est ce que vous pourriez faire la queue comme tout le monde

Discussion

Je ne crois pas qu'on puisse tirer de conclusion du genre "les américains réagissent comme ça, les français comme ça" , c'est plutôt histoire de personnalité ... nos réponses ne sont de toutes façons pas très différentes...

C'est toujours un peu délicat quand quelqu'un fait nous double dans la queue... l'idéal étant que la queue soit bien faite et qu'on ne puisse pas rentrer dedans sans se faire remarquer.

I think that is true Pierre.  The situation of someone cutting in front of you after waiting 10 minutes depends on the person, the actual situation, and the personality of whoever is in line.  It is hard to separate American and French reactions.  I can however say that I would not let someone cut infront of me, especially if I have been waiting for 10 minutes.

I also agree with both of you but I also do think this can also be somewhat influenced by the culture. In my country, I would presume that if the same things happen people will say some things or glare at me but I don't think they would not let the peron cut in line. It's true most people would have the same feeling about it but the expression would be different. According to the answers on the forum it seems the French were more direct and frank about expressing their thougths whereas the Americans were more passive about it. I'm not tryin to generalize but I do feel the Americans are more reluctant about directly accusing the person.. somewhat ...

Having cut couple of lines, I can tell that in US people don't react too much. If you give a reason (like that you're late), they will try to understand and let you go in front of them. Sometimes they won't even tell you anything, just give a look. In Russia, after years and years of long hours in lines, waiting for simple things like food, it is in genes of people to protect their place, and not let anyone in front. It's very interesting, actuallly, to see how history, and collective experience shapes such things.

 

 

I think HyoJeong makes a good point. I do think that there were more French responses that said they would call the person out, whereas there were more passive aggressive responses from the Americans: "I'd judge them" or "I'd glare at them" or "I'd be annoyed but wait for someone else to say something," or something like that. I think maybe Americans like to complain a little more. If they don't say anything, then they can complain about it later: "Can you believe this lady, she just cut in front of all of us who'd been waiting forever!" The fact that she got away with it makes it complaint-worthy. I have this idea in my mind, maybe it's a stereotype, that most other nations complain less than americans...

Overall, the responses were very similar, but it's very interesting that so many of the French responses were of the same theme: take personal action & speaking up, while the American responses ranged from doing nothing to speaking up, to complaining to an authority. The last one in particular - talking to an authority - seems to come in American responses to various prompts, but seldom if ever in the French ones. Is there a sense of taking care of problems yourself? Would you ever go to a security guard in a situation like that?

Je partage votre avis sur ce point. Il y a certes notre culture qui nous pousse à agir, mais notre réaction reste tout de même personnelle. Si c'est un type de 2 m et 100 kg qui a un caractère apparement violent, je pense que je marmonerais dans ma barbe et ferai profil bas (ou appelerai des amis ^^).

 

Certaines personnes pensent que les francais ont un passé de "révolutionaire"  et sont donc ont plus tendance à faire valoir leur droit...

Pour répondre à ta question Danielle, c'est vrai que d'une manière générale, nous essayons très souvent de résoudre les conflits par nous-même.

Il est rare que nous demandions l'intervention d'une autorité comme un garde ou un policier et ceux-ci interviennent que lorsque le conflit dégénère.