Lines

I've noticed that people in Thailand and Hong Kong do not really understand the concept of lines or queueing. Perhaps it is a result of the whole circular philosophical bend of the East that rejects the idea of standing in a single file line. Whatever the reason, most Thai and Chinese people are deficient in that skill that most of us learned by second grade.

I encounter this when ordering at a fast food restaurant or paying at a convenient store. My tendency is to leave a little bit of space between myself and the person being helped, and when they are finished, give them a second to leave and for the clerk to look up and acknowledge me. My failure to immediately rush up to the counter and nearly bowl over the person leaving is usually interpreted by other customers as a lack of interest in my part to be helped. Someone will often walk up in front of you.


You also see when there are multiple cashier stations but only one person working. As I stand in line behind the person being helped, a Thai will walk up to an unmanned register. When the clerk is finished helping the first customer, this person will try to grab their attention and order. In the U.S. that usually won't fly. The clerks generally understand the concept of line, and will often ask the person to wait. Here they usually just help the person who cut the queue. I walked out of Burger King without ordering the other day when it happened.

While Thais don't "respect the queue" like those of us in the West, they are not nearly as bad as their Chinese counterparts. A Thai might walk in front of you in line, but in China, a person might just knock you over to get there. Perhaps I'm biased towards Thais, but I really believe that Thais don't realize they are cutting you off, while Chinese don't care.

When we were in Hong Kong, people would frequently try to push and squeeze their way past you. Its one thing if you are in a crowded subway where you are moving with a crowd. Its another thing to try to push people out of the way in lines at amusement parks. In Disney, I literally kept my body on a person in order to prevent her from pushing ahead and stepping on my kids. In Ocean Park, a man pushed aside my three year old daughter as he was climbing up the seats to exit a show.

If someone in a ride queue isn't paying attention, in the U.S. the person behind them will usually wait for a few seconds and then motion for the person to move forward. In Hong Kong, as many people as possible will run past the person in line. People will climb over rails in order to cut the queue. I saw a couple in their 60's climbing over a rail instead of walking 30 feet to get to the actual queue entrance. The funny thing is that the woman struggled mightily to climb over and they ended up in the exact spot they would have had they queued up normally. I told Tim that if they fell, I was going to bust out laughing.


By the end of the trip, I was actually starting to enjoy myself. I took a bit of perverse pleasure in preventing the person from squeezing past me in line. Fortunately I did not have to break out my secret weapon and stand on some one's foot. I would have smiled and apologized profusely of course.