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 passe devant vous.
Don't say anything. Just be patient. You'll still get to the front of the line eventually. If you're in a particular hurry, politely ask him if you can step in front of him in line.
I feel irritated, but I don't do anything in response.
I give them the "I just saw what you did" look.
I politely point out the situation to the person. If the person is confrontational, I just ignore the situation.
I tell him or her to get in the back of the line.
I tell them to go to the back of the line.
I try to speak to the person if he refuses to listen, I try to resolve problem with security personnel.
I would tell them very politely that I had been waiting.
I would ask them to move back.
I would be annoyed but if it's only one person it's not that bad
I would be upset but just ignore it.
I would briskly tell them the line starts way behind me
I would confront them and ask what they are doing.
I would say, "Excuse me. I was waiting in line ahead of you."
Then I would politely reposition myself in front of the person.
I wouldn't do anything if it is just one person cutting the line.
Not directly address them but at the last minute cut back in front of them
Say something vulgar letting them know that I am irritated.
Say, "excuse me, the line ends back there."
je l'attrape et le remets à sa place
Je l'informe d'abord gentiment de l'endroit où commence la queue.
Je l'interpelle discrètement et lui dis calmement que j'étais avant lui.
je la double à nouveau
je lui demande avec un sourire s'il est pressé..
Je lui demande de faire la queue comme tout le monde
je lui demande de faire la queue comme tout le monde
je lui demande de faire la queue comme tout le monde.
je lui dis de repasser derrière
Je lui dis que j'étais avant lui et qu'il doit faire la queue comme tout le monde, poliment mais froidement.
je lui dis que j'étais avant lui et qu'il doit repasser derrière.
Je lui explique que j'étais là avant lui.
Je lui ferai une remarque pour lui dire de faire comme tout le monde et d'attendre son tour
je lui rappelle qu'il faut faire la queue sauf si c'est une personne âgée ou handicapée
je lui signale que je fais la queue et je lui demande de passer derrière moi
je m'interpose et le redouble à mon tour.
Je n'accepte pas et je lui dit ce que je pense
je ne fais rien car j'ai dû dépasser plusieurs personnes moi aussi
je repasse devant elle
Je repasse devant la personne sans rien dire.
je suis pas d'accord
Soit je râle silencieusement ou soit je ne dis rien s'il est tout seul.
Discussion
The reactions to these situations seem to show that the French have a greater respect for manners and social rules than Americans. Also, there were more Americans who sought to avoid a confrontation and would rather let the person who stepped in front get away with it. So when someone steps in front of you in line, do you judge them for it?
One thing I noticed was that the American side had many more "passive" responses: giving looking, being irritated but not saying anything, and so on. I think only three people explicitly stated that they would tell the person to get in line. However, on the French side, many more people felt perfectly fine telling the "resquilleur" to get in line.
I don't see this as being negative or confrontational, but do you think the French are more comfortable expressing their displeasure with a situation? Is line breaking terribly offensive in France? I wonder what could account for these differences.
Je pense que le fait de juger les autres varie selon les personnes. Pour ma part il est clair que si une personne passe devant moi sans riendire, je le juge. Le fait de doubler comme ça signifie que cette personne manque beaucoup de respect et n'est absolument pas polie. Cete personne se croit tout permis et oublie qu'il n'est pas le seul dans son cas. Tout le monde préfère faire autre chose que de faire la queue. Il est donc nécéssaire de la remettre gentillement à sa place!
Cepensant je pense que c'est le fait de passer devant sans rien dire qui n'est pas accepté en France. En revanche, par exemple une personne à la caisse d'un magasin vous demande de passer devant vous car il a que 3 articles et vous, vous avez un cadie remplie, il est clair que vous la laisser passer sans rien dire. Je pense que dans la mesure où la personne explique et demande gentillement de passer devant, il me semble normal de ne pas grogner.
I find the difference in French and American social customs to be very interesting. Like Chloe mentioned, Americans in general feel that to inform someone of their rudeness can be perceived as rude as the act itself, whereas in France, people seem to be more direct.
As for the matter of judging others; of course, I think I will subconscously judge someone when they cut in line with me. However, I'm also aware that there are lots of situations they could be in that would cause them to be in a hurry that, to them, seem good reasons to cut. Maybe they are really late for something that will have a large impact on their life, for instance. It's improbable, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't happen. And I know, simply from the unspoken "rules" of society, that to cut in line for most people would be completley unacceptable unless they were so panicked / in such a hurry that it began to seem worth it to them.
That usually isn't what happens, of course. I think the biggest problem in terms of people cutting in lines is that people always are letting their friends pass in front of them, irregardless of who's standing behind them and how many people have been waiting. For instance, I was waiting in a long line at an event once that went on a very long way, and I invited my friend who was walking by to cut in line. I realized (belatedly) that that wasn't the most polite thing to do, given how long people were waiting, but my friend cut in line anyway, and the person behind me took the opportunity to give me a lecture about being considerate of others. It didn't really seem rude at the time to be rebuked, but it frightened me considerably (I really love avoiding confrontations), and I think in the future I will be much less likely to let my friends cut in front of me. So informing someone you are displeased with them can definitely have an affect on how they act in the future.