Line Cutting in Europe
Sep 7th, 2004 | 09:21 AM
#81
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,137
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Yikes, this getting a little tense here...I fear the Fodors editors are getting out their scissors. Rude is rude no matter where you are. I think that mainly English speaking cultures tend to hold onto the queue concept for sanity's sake..it is just MVHO.
Sep 7th, 2004 | 09:34 AM
#82
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,902
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Mendota98, I currently live in Cincinnati and I DO remember that. I think I was 11 or 12 when that happened. Not only were people pushed thru windows but they were quite literally trampled underfoot. I remember reading about one girl who was saved when a hand reached down to grab her up off the floor. For years, festival seating was verboten at all the larger arenas, only the smaller ones, such as Bogart's, could get away with it.
On my final day my last trip to Paris I was the 1st person in line waiting for Notre Dame to open for the Easter Mass (which was beautiful, BTW!). I had struck up a conversation with a couple from Atlanta, and when I turned around a French man had ducked in front of me! I tried to explain to him that he had skipped line but apparently he didn't understand the concept. For the 1st time during trip I didn't have the ability to convey my meaning thru hand gestures. Presently, he moved off to the side to carry on a conversation with another person so I moved on up to claim my spot RIGHT NEXT TO THE GATE (sucker). The Atlanta couple & I shared a moment of bemused eye rolling. The French gentleman proceeded to the end of the now-very-long line!
On my final day my last trip to Paris I was the 1st person in line waiting for Notre Dame to open for the Easter Mass (which was beautiful, BTW!). I had struck up a conversation with a couple from Atlanta, and when I turned around a French man had ducked in front of me! I tried to explain to him that he had skipped line but apparently he didn't understand the concept. For the 1st time during trip I didn't have the ability to convey my meaning thru hand gestures. Presently, he moved off to the side to carry on a conversation with another person so I moved on up to claim my spot RIGHT NEXT TO THE GATE (sucker). The Atlanta couple & I shared a moment of bemused eye rolling. The French gentleman proceeded to the end of the now-very-long line!
Sep 7th, 2004 | 09:55 AM
#83
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 2,725
Likes: 0
Ah, fond memories of our trip to Europe. It was my first time there, and I was extremely surprised at the amount of line cutting going on, not having heard anything about this before.
The worst was when we were waiting to check into our hotel in London. There were 3 clerks at the desk, and a single line had formed - the next available clerk would help the first person in the line. The line was very slow moving and getting to be quite long.
After waiting for about 25 minutes, the party in front of us were the next to be helped - and a German family marched right up to the front of the line and intercepted the next available clerk. The people whose places they took were Japanese businessmen and didn't object or make any other fuss about it, other than to mutter to themselves. The clerk did not tell them that others had been waiting first, either.
Had this German family concluded their business quickly, it would not have been so bad, except that it turned out that they did not have a reservation at all. They spent at least 15 minutes quizzing the clerk about the different kinds of rooms that were available, the rates, the ameneties, etc., haggling about the room rates, digging in their bags for a passport, then running multiple credit cards through the machine. After all that, either they had credit card problems or they decided not to get a room at all and left.
The worst was when we were waiting to check into our hotel in London. There were 3 clerks at the desk, and a single line had formed - the next available clerk would help the first person in the line. The line was very slow moving and getting to be quite long.
After waiting for about 25 minutes, the party in front of us were the next to be helped - and a German family marched right up to the front of the line and intercepted the next available clerk. The people whose places they took were Japanese businessmen and didn't object or make any other fuss about it, other than to mutter to themselves. The clerk did not tell them that others had been waiting first, either.
Had this German family concluded their business quickly, it would not have been so bad, except that it turned out that they did not have a reservation at all. They spent at least 15 minutes quizzing the clerk about the different kinds of rooms that were available, the rates, the ameneties, etc., haggling about the room rates, digging in their bags for a passport, then running multiple credit cards through the machine. After all that, either they had credit card problems or they decided not to get a room at all and left.
