Aspects of English Life ueuing
The English expect each other to observe the rules of queuing,feel highly offended when these rules are violaed,but lack the confidence or social skills to express their annoyance in a strightforward manner.In other countries,this is not a problem:in America,where a queue-jumper has committed a misdemeanour rather than a cardinal sin,the response is loud and prescriptive:the offender is simply told'Hey,you,get back in line!' or words to that effect.On the continent,the reaction tends to be loud and argumentative; in some other parts of the world,queue-jumpers may simply be unceremoniouly pushed and shoved back into line--but the end result is much the same.Parodoxically,it is only in England,where queue-jumping is regarded as deeply immoral,that the queue-jumper is likely to get away with the offence.The English huff and puff and scowl and mutter and seethe with rightous indignation, but only rarely do they actually speak up and tell the jumper to go to the back of the queue.
Queuing is almost a national pastime for the English,who automatically arrange themselves into orderly lines at bus stops,shop counters,ice-cream vans,entrances,exits,and lifes.
In 1946,the Hungarian humorist George Mikes desccribed queuing as English 'national passion.''On the continent,'he said,'if people waiting at a bus stop they loiter around in a seemingly vague fashion.When the bus arrives they make a dash for it...An English man,even if he is alone,forms orderly queue of one.'In a update over thirty years later in 1977 he comfirmed that this was still the case.After nearly another thirty years nothing much seems to have changed.
The authoress of the book said,'I do it myself.When waiting alone for a bus or at a taxi stop,I do not just lounge about anywhere roughly within striking distance of the stop,as people do in other countries--I stand directly under the sign facing in the correct direction,exactly as though I were at the head of the queue.I form an orderly queue of one.'
In many cases,queue-jumping is effectively 'nipped in the bud' by non-verbal signals alone.When someone is considering jumping a queue,the queuers will start glancing at him sideways,through narrowed,suspicious eyes.Then they shuffle a bit closer to the person in front of them,just in case the jumper might try to insert himself in the gap.They adopt a more belligerent,territorial posture--putting a hand on a lip,'squaring up' to the potential threat,or ostentatiously turning a shoulder away from him.Frowns,glares,raised eyebrows and contemptuous looks--accompanied by heavy sighs,pointed coughs,scornful snorts,turring and muttering ('Will,really!''Bloody hell!''Huh,typical.''What the...')--are usually the worst that the person will be subjected to if he jumps a queue.Facing with all this the jumper will think better of it and retreat meekly to the back of the queue.
The English have an acute sense of fairness,and what in other cultures would seen as entirely legitimate opportunistic behaviour--such as heading directly for the 'free' cashier when there are two people already waiting to be served in front of the cashier alongside,who have simply no been quick enough to move across--is here regarded as queue-jumping or tantamount to queue-jumping.Such behaviour is severely frowned upon.
翻译：
英人习俗：排队
英国人指望大家都遵守排队的规则，如有人不遵守就觉得不好受，但却既不敢又无办法直接表露自己很恼火。这在别的国家都不成问题：比方说在美国，加塞儿只是小错而不是大罪，对此人们会习惯的告诫，直截了当得对犯规者说：“喂，说你啦，后面排队去！”或类似的话。在欧洲大陆，对此反应往往是高声说理：在世界其他一些地方，不排队想加塞儿的人简直就会被不客气的推搡到队尾去--但最终结果几乎一样。说来难以置信的是，英国人把加塞儿看作是罪大恶极的事，但它却是唯一一个让加塞儿的人得逞的国家。英国人对此确实很愤怒，吹胡子瞪眼，咬牙切齿，但就是极少大声言明说，让加塞儿的人退到队尾去。
几乎全英国的人都把排队看做是一种消遣，在公共汽车站，商店柜台边，买冰欺凌的流动车旁，进出口处，电梯旁，人们都自动排成有秩序的队伍。
1946年，匈牙利幽默作家乔治。麦克斯把排队形容为英国的“民族热情”。他说：“欧洲大陆的人等公共汽车时随便站在站台上或在附近游荡，车子一来便都一拥而上……英国人则不同，即使只有自己一人，他也规规矩矩排成一人队。”三十多年后的1977年，他证实情况依然如此。又近三十年过去了，情况仍没什么变化。
本书作者说：“我自己也是这样做的。当我一个人在站台等公共汽车或出租车时，我不像其它国家的人那样在站台附近够得的着的地方闲逛--我会站在站牌下面面向该望的方向，就像我站在首位后面有人排队一样。我排成正规的一人队。”
多数情况下，人们用暗示而不用言语将加塞儿有效地“防范于未然”。如发现有人想加塞儿，排队的人便对他侧目而视，眯着眼投以怀疑的目光，然后向前靠拢一些以免留下空隙让他有机可乘。他们摆出一副地盘不可侵犯的架势：一手叉腰‘直面’潜在的威胁，在不就显眼的转过身去。皱眉，怒目，扬起眉毛投以鄙视，加上大声叹气，有意咳嗽，不屑一顾的哼哼，故作吱吱声，低声嘟哝（“咳，真是的！”……见鬼……不就那一套？……怎么……“），这些通常全是想加塞儿的人得面对的最坏情况。加塞儿的人碰上这些就会改弦易张，乖乖的排到队尾去。
英国人公平意识极强，在其他社会被认为完全合法的投机行为--例如，收款处有两人在等候，来了个新收款员时他们还没来得及转移就被刚刚到的人捷足先登了--英国人却认为这是加塞儿或等同于加塞儿。这种行为被人们认为是恬不知耻。 |
