Waiting in line

Dans la file
d'attente

Ask them to go behind you.
Complain to the person.
i confront them and let them know how rude they are.
I don't do anything.
I glare at them
I ignore them.
I pretend that I haven't seen anything.
I tell them that there is a line and points to where it starts
I tell them to go to the back of the line.
I will be pissed off and tell the person to go back to the
end of the line.
I would be really upset with the person and attempt to cut
in front of them in order to get my rightful place in line back.
If that does not work, I would ask them NOT to cut in line, as
it is unfair to the rest of the people who have been waiting.
i would not do a thing
I would not say anything because I do that at times too.
I would politley yell at them
I would tell him to go find the end of the line because he
definitely isn't gonna get in front of me.
I would tell the person to go to the back of the line.
i would tell the person to go to the end of the line like
everybody else
I would tell them to get out and wait in the back of the
line.
I would tell them to go to the end.
I would think they are rude, and I would tell them to go
to the back of the line
It depends on where the line is. That has happened to me
a lot before.
let them stay in line but be angry
Make a loud comment about their rude behavior to the next
person in line.
make a scene until they move to the back of the line
Nothing.
say, 'hey!! there is a line here'
Tell them as nicely as I can, as if they have been mistaken,
"Excuse me, but the line starts back there."
Tell them to get to the back of the line
You get over it... you everyone cuts sometimes.

"hep hep, ça te dit pas de faire la queue?"
Ca m'énerve mais d'autres gens auront sûrement
l'idée de le lui dire avant que je n'ai à intervenir
(fort heureusement d'ailleurs)
Excusez moi, j'étais avant vous
ça dépend
je fait remarquer que j'étais avant lui
Je l'écarte du bras sans ménagement et si elle
ose répliquer il y aura une discussion trés agité
(Tout cela bien sur si il n'y a aucune possibilité pour
que la personne en question se soi mal comporté inconsciamment).
Je lui demande ses raisons
je lui demande d'aller au bout
Je lui demande s'il a VRAIMENT une bonne raison, sinon il
peut faire la queue comme tout le monde!
je lui dis : "excusez-moi, mais j'étais là".
S'il insiste, je repasse devant lui et prend les autres à
témoin.
Je lui fais la remarque
je lui fais remarquer que la queue est derrière (mais
ça ne m'empèche pas de faire la même chose)
je lui fais remarqué que j'étais là
avant lui
je lui fait remarquer que j'etais avant lui
Je lui fait remarquer que j'étais là avant
!
je lui fait remarquer que je suis arrivé avant lui
je lui montre le bout de la file après avoir attiré
son attention
je lui signale que j'etais avant
Je lui signale que j'étais là avant lui.
je m'en fou.
Je ne dit rien, mais je n'en pense pas moins.
je ne le laisse pas faire sauf s'il a une bonne raison
Je repasse devant cette personne sans rien dire.
je repasse devant lui
Selon l'humeur mais en général je râle.
Si c'est une petite vieille toute fatiguée, je ne
dis rien (mais je m'ennerve un peu !), si c'est monsieur tout
le monde, je l'interpelle et lui demande de " faire la queue
comme tout le monde!". D'un autre coté, si je suis
de bonne humeur je m'en fous, je le laisse faire.
Si la personne à l'air sympa, je la laisse passer
et en profite pour entamer la discut', si cette personne a l'air
musclée et de mauvais poil je râle intérieurement,
sinon dans les autres cas je lui demande de faire la queue comme
tout le monde.
Si la personne est plus petite que moi, je lui fais la réflexion.
Sinon ...
tant pis

Discussion

salut les petits loups

Indépendemment des réponses au questionnaire, nous avons remarqué que ,concernant les files d'attente, les américains sont beaucoup plus civilisés que les français. Par exemple, contrairement aux français, les américains ne dépassent jamais les lignes tracées au sol dans les files d'attente.

Peut-etre ont ils peur de la loi ou simplement n'ont ils pas un esprit aussi aventurier que les français? ... :)

Les français contrairement aux 'ricains temporisent en fonction de la situation : si la personne qui double est grabataire ou bien super costaude alors le français , soit par politesse soit par timidité (i.e il n'ose pas aborder un etranger baraque qui a d'ailleurs sûrement de très bonnes raisons de passer devant ... ),va s'incliner.

Sinon le français , qui a du sang latin qui coule dans ses veines ,réagira d'un seul trait et boutera la personne concernée....

Vos amis Brice et Olivier qui vous aiment et attendent avec impatience vos réponses ,seules sources de bonheur dans notre vie (sniff sniff ).

ps: cherche belle américaine pour partager questionnaire et plus si affinités. Brice

Je suis tout a fait d'accord avec chouchou et je veux souligner que ça viens essentiellement de la différence de tempérament entre le latin et l'anglosaxon.Peut-être que le la tin est plus vivant...!

Ce cher Brice est décidement bien familier... ;-) D'après les résultats du questionnaire, les Américains ne doublent pas dans les queues (ce serait un grand progrès si l'Amérique venait en France), et s'ils se font doubler, ils ne s'expriment pas plus que les Fançais. Par contre, ils ont moins de manifestations du type:" je le redouble s'il me double" (3 fois moins de réactions de ce genre). On assiste donc a un paradoxe des plus intéressants: la culture de la loi et de l'ordre est tellement bien implabtée aux USA qu'elle inhibe toute réaction physique de défense de cette même culture de la loi et de l'ordre. Autrement dit, la loi et l'ordre laissent le champ libre (lorsque la police n'est pas là) au désordre et à l'absence de lois. Ce paradoxe est-il vrai ou bien suis-je si fatigué que je raconte n'importe quoi?

In addition to the fact that the French would be more active (i.e. physically) in this situation, notice that more Americans said they would not really care if the person cut in line (5 on our side as opposed to 2 on your side). I think it's just because cutting in line is not such a big deal that we need to resort to physical contact; there are other more serious problems in the world. If we can get them to respect others by telling them or hinting otherwise, why create a scene? If not, oh well, we deal...

I remember watching this funny film about Chinese-Americans where one of them goes back to China and, being more American than Chinese, he lets people go in front of him to get on the bus but ends up missing the bus himself because it completely filled up. It's kind of exaggerated but partially true because lots of us would just let people pass if we got there at the same time, and so lots of us would have trouble adjusting to this no-line business in China. I'm guessing the French would have less of a problem being aggressive?

J'ai remarqué qu'aux US les gens avaient beaucoup moins tendance à doubler qu'en France, c'est peut-être pour cela que vous êtes plus tolérant vis-à-vis de ça. Ici si on laissait tout le monde nous doubler on perdrait systématiquement 5-10 minutes à chaque fois.

De manière générale j'ai remarqué pendant mes voyages (notamment aux US et encore plus en Allemagne) que les Français étaient particulièrement non respectueux des lois, dans beaucoup de domaines (en voiture, queues, cigarettes...). OK ça peut-être tentant parfois de désobéir à la loi, surtout quand ce n'est pas trop grave, mais à la longue j'en ai vraiment marre d'habiter dans un pays ù beaucoup de gens ont un comportement incivique, surtout que moi-même je respecte la loi.

I think Harold makes a really good observation: It seems like law and order is what causes the lines to be disordly. I don't think this is entirely true though. The reason Americans don't react to someone cutting them in line is not because we are worried about breaking any laws or orders of conduct, but that we simply don't care. There is a dominant "me-first" attitude in the U.S., and if someone cuts me in line, it might bother me but I just assume that the person is an asshole and usually just let them cut. Plus, if someone cuts you in line, a dirty look or a sarcastic comment will usually suffice to let the person know that they're being rude, rather than a direct confrontation which most Americans try to avoid.

Here's a really random question: does anyone know if in countries where they drive on the left side of the road, if people tend to walk on the left side of the hallway in buildings? Maybe since France is so close to England one of the French students will know? This has been bothering me for years now and I lose sleep over it every night.

To respond to Olivier, I don't think cutting someone in line is an adventure. If you wanted an adventure, you'd scream "fire" so everybody leaves the line and you're legitimately at the front. And then you can laugh at the people.

I recommend that you guys over there not confront line-cutters directly, it's less fun. What you should do is just be as obnoxious as you can (throw pennies at them, ash on them, and so on). I hope that you will find this more rewarding.

A hypothesis: maybe the French are more likely to physically intervene (e.g., "je l'écarte du bras sans ménagement") because they are less afraid of litigation. Does this sound reasonable?

My first reaction to these responses was one of surprise due to the number of American students who would do nothing. Almost every French student responded that he/she would speak up or do something (even something physically) to make sure that person got to the end of the line. I think the reason so many Americans would do nothing is due to the fact that we avoid confrontations. We avoid making a scene in public places at all costs.

I was wondering what you expected our responses to be like. Did you think that more Americans would speak up and not let someone cut in front of them?

Frederique, what you observed during your visit to the U.S.-- that Americans are more likely to follow rules than the French-- is very interesting. I think part of it depends on which part of the U.S. you visited, but in general, this must be true. It's funny that this would be the case, though, because so many more French students replied that they would speak up or act if someone cut in front of them. So you would think that line-cutting would be less frequent in France.... Perhaps French students are more likely to speak up because of the fact that line-cutting occurs so frequently?

Also, I noticed that several French students replied that they would ask the person for their reasons, while no one on the American side said this. Maybe this shows timidity, but I also think it shows kindness, or perhaps diplomacy. But I was wondering what kind of answers you receive for questions like this.... I don't think people in the U.S. would generally have a good answer (other than impatience or selfishness).

Does anyone think maybe Americans wouldn't respond because we know that we all do that at times too?

Frederique, I totally agree with you. Americans in general respect the system. Regarding minor "infractions" I've noticed that many immigrants take advantage of this. You go to Miami, for example, where there are many latins and it is a different US. On the other hand, harsh infractions are respected by mostly everyone. Latins that come to the US for example, stop throwing trash out the car window - something they regularly do in their native countries.

I think one of the rudest things a person can do is to cut in line. Even though we do not like to make scenes, I think we have every right to politely ask the person who cut in to leave.

I am somewhat surprised as well at Frederique's assertion that Americans are more likely to follow rules than their French counterparts. As everyone has listed above, the [non]reaction to line cutting may be due to an increasingly litigious society, kindess, timidness, general apathy, or all of the above... as far as i can recall personally, i can't really think of many situations (in the States at least) where there have been problems with line-cutting. if it does happen -- such as in the line at the grocery store -- the person usually explains that they have only a few items and they are in a hurry, etc. at times, i have even seen people let others in front of them without being asked. In general though, i think if Americans found line-cutting an incident to get upset about, there would be a thousand more situations like that to deal with as well. Its easier to dismiss it as an isolated incident than to have a confrontation with somebody.

Rule following is easy - it doesn't take any thought, if the rules have been pounded into you since birth. I know that I like rules and boundaries, for when they exist, I don't have to think about my conduct, and my mind is free to worry about other things. But rule following can also be an expression of laziness, for a person who follows the rules implicitly accepts them as "right," which is okay for the great majority of rules out there. However, this implicit acceptance is also made by people even when they simply choose to be in a place, or to stay in a place.

If you get a chance, you should watch Game 5 of the World Series, go Metties!

pour répondre à Mr Turkel:

Non, nous n'avons pas peur des procès. Et nous n'avons pas la manie des procès (si je traduis correctement le terme "litigation"). En France, même sil vous "secouez" un peu quelqu'un (mais c'est très rare que cela arrive) dans la queue, vous n'aurez pas de procès. Pour avoir un procès, il faut vraiment qu'il y ait une violente dispute, avec hématomes, plaies et autres bras cassés et que la personne doive aller chez le médecin pour se faire soigner (et constater les dégĹts par la même occasion). Donc, non, nous n'avons pas peur des procès!

Question pour Neville M:

Que sont les "World Series"? Et en quoi consiste le "Game 5"?