I'll admit most of what I learn about what it going on back in the homeland is through twitter. American news is very American bias and most of the British news that ever gets a mention is related to the royal family. Yet I've been seeing rather a lot on facebook and twitter about the potential of a fuel strike causing endless queues for petrol, something which seems to be an annual thing in the UK. This got me thinking - one comparison I notice a lot is there difference between the UK and the USA's art of queuing.
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In the UK we love to form orderly lines and patiently wait, not only for petrol it seems but also for buses, in stores, for the post office and banks to open. It's seen as one of our national pastimes being ranked second behind talking about the weather in this Telegraph article. It's a way of being nice to our fellow people and we glare at queue jumpers. It's part of doing our bit, but its also something that defines us as being British, its one of our national traits recognised and known by foreigners. The British just love to queue even to the point while researching this post I stumbled over plans in 2010 for all immigrants into the UK to be taught how to queue as part of their citizenship application, I'm unsure if it came to fruition.
In America not so much - although people still queue over here it's not welcomed as much and they never get to the extremes like they do in the UK. I noticed this first in Chicago when we were waiting to catch the bus. Rather then forming a queue people just gather and regardless of who got there first, people just pile on board.
Have you ever noticed this queuing art form? Do you think the UK has certain national traits? What other traditions do you think our countries both have?