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When a line is not a line

I was trying to figure out why I was so bothered by the general behavior of people in the airport lines I saw this week, and I realized that my most-recent experience in European airports was entirely German and Swiss, where lines are taken seriously.

Apparently in Spain and Italy, lines are more of a suggestion. I watched people in security lines and boarding lines (not check-in lines, but I would’ve been much more upset there) casually walk past me and join the line close to the front. In some cases (boarding, generally, but also the passport control line in Milan) the line wasn’t even sharply defined, just a generalized mob with a front and a back through which people filtered at varying rates of speed.

For the most part, it didn’t affect me—I got where I needed to go and didn’t miss anything—but it was a little annoying.

Posted by pjm on March 10, 2008 8:40 PM |

Comments

B. and I took a flight from Paris Beauvais (tiny airport) to Rome around Christmas 2004. It was the same thing. All these crazy Italians, dressed to the nines, clamoring to the front of the “line” to jam themselves into a small airplane with no seat assignments. Tons o’fun.

Posted by: nikki c | March 11, 2008 12:59 PM

Get prepared for the olympics. It is my understanding that the Chinese don’t queue either.

Posted by: Chris | March 11, 2008 3:10 PM

Well, you should see the lines in India. Oh. That’s right. There is no Indian word that translates to Line.

Posted by: Julia | March 12, 2008 12:51 PM

People that don’t get the line thing, bug the hell out of me! I remember standing in line at an airport in Italy and having to tell several different people off for trying to jump the queue. They all acted innocent and tried to pretend not to understand me, but then got the picture when I get pissier lol.

Posted by: Kass | March 16, 2008 5:19 PM

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