As-salamu `alaykum wa rahmatullah
Kate Fox (an anthropologist with a great sense of humour) wrote a nice chapter on ‘Queuing’ in her book ‘Watching the English.’ Below is an excerpt…
“The English expect each other to observe the rules of queuing, feel highly offended when these rules are violated, but lack the confidence or social skills to express their annoyance in a straightforward 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 unceremoniously pushed and shoved back into line – but the end result is much the same. Paradoxically, 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. We huff and puff and scowl and mutter and seethe with righteous indignation, but only rarely do we actually speak up and tell the jumper to go to the back of the queue.”
If you’re English or grew up in England, let’s just say that you might have a few problems in Egypt when it comes to queues. Ok, wait, let me backtrack on that… most of the time, there are no queues! The first time I realised there was a problem was when way back in my early days, I stood in a ‘queue’ (or what I thought was a queue), only for it to never move! Well, I never seemed to be getting any closer to the cashier…
Don’t do what I did… don’t be so English in the middle of Egypt. The sun will probably set before you get anywhere. If you see that there are a lot of people aiming to get to a cashier for example or a ticket booth at the train station, you will at times have no choice but to help yourself get in there too. If you decide to be a bit miskeen and give way to everyone, then you’ll be waiting for an awfully long time. In a lot of places here, it is commonly understood that queuing doesn’t always mean ‘forming a straight line’ and in Egypt, well erm, queues can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes (so it’s probably wise not to stand there trying to figure out where the queue is or where it ends!) 🙂
“… in some other parts of the world, queue-jumpers may simply be unceremoniously pushed and shoved back into line…”
In Cairo you’ll find that sometimes you’ll be unceremoniously pushed and shoved, not back into line, but just pushed and shoved back (and out of sight). The funny thing is, you can do the same to others and not be stared at like you’re from outer space. For the record, I’ve never pushed anyone out of line (although I’ve been tempted), but a piece of advice if you’re new here: if you wish to get served in busy places, you’ll need to stick strong to your place, square up and move with the crowd, otherwise you’re going absolutely nowhere. Most of the time, the que-jumpers don’t realise that they’re doing something wrong (it’s actually quite normal to do it here), so arguing with them won’t really solve anything, but it does sometimes work telling them that you’ve been waiting a long time before them.
For sisters, it can be at times frustrating when there are many men crowding places where a queue will most likely never form; around a stall for example, or at a juice bar. Personally, I prefer not to get inside the crowds (don’t recommend it for sisters either) but this is a cool trick: Stand at a short distance and wait for 5 mins not doing anything except looking to the front of the ‘queue’, and soon enough the guy at the cashier/stall/wherever you wish to get served will definitely notice and he’ll tell the guys to make way for you 🙂 Sometimes you get served before others who’ve been waiting longer than you!
So all in all, the message I’m trying to get out is: Get used to que-jumpers (in a land where this isn’t a crime, I guess they’re not guilty), don’t feel insulted when you’re the victim on a daily basis, don’t bear any grudges when it happens, and hey if you see that there is some empty space in front of you, it doesn’t hurt filling it up lol.
Once, I actually saw (and joined) a nice queue at the exchangers. It was quiet, straight, not crowded at all, very much like the simple queues at my local Natwest bank . I thought ‘Wow, what a change’ when out of the bright blue a lady calmly walks past me (you could say I was invisible) and erm, just squeezed in – right in front of me too. I don’t know what was funnier, the calm sophisticated manner in which she did it, or the fact that I finally realised this is something I could never get used to despite all my years of living here. I guess Kate Fox pretty much summed up my predicament of why I could never confront a queue-jumper. What’s worse is that I’m not even English; I’m just a Londoner.
lol, I experienced this first hand with you Fajr! 🙂
The other day I was in Metro and this woman TOTALLY jumped me…like it wasn’t even slick, she just came and went right infront of me. I tried to get back my spot but they were just too much lol, i was like fine, you win this time.
We miss you! Alhamdulillah you reached home safely.
Fajr I cannot thank you enough – I was smiling as I read that and I am still grinning now.
Barakallahu feeki Sis. That was too funny may Allah preserve you.
Gotta love the masreyyeen.
Gotta love ’em indeed, they’re a complete blast masha’Allah.
Amatullah and Bint Husayn, I now dedicate this post to you two 🙂 Take it as my parting advice lol. Alhamdulillah we got back safely, already missing you guys.
Allah yahfadhki, Umm Rummaan.
Assalamu’alaykum sis, how’s it going? man, i gotta admit I was cracking up on this post….you really got me there! I mean, if you wanna experience que-jumpers in England, go down to Edgware Rd,…lol.
Hope all is well sis.
From your darl…aka: chicken and chips girl
(fyi: ive given up on the junk and staying healthy inshallah.. :))
Asalamulaikum wrwb sis Fajr
Alhamdulilah you got England ok. I could not stop laughing reading this article, it ready did sum up Egyptian social stills. I still remember how you taught me cross the road here…smiles. Its plain crazyness. Khair the sacrifices required for the ilm are truly great. 🙂
Takecare A
My favourite Londoner! Great to see you’ve gone healthy sis 😉 I think E London was to blame, all them chicken and chips places lined on every road, tut tut… Edgware road que-jumpers lol, I bet it’s the Masriyeen at it! No, I’m just messing, I’m sure they’re well behaved? (Haven’t been there for a long while).
Muslimah, I haven’t forgotten you either! This post is also dedicated to you 🙂 Hope you remember it if you ever fall victim to such horrendous (but completely normal and ok) acts whilst out there 🙂
walekum salaam wa rahmatuallahi wa barakatuhu ukhti
So what is the Islamic ruling on dealing this issue.
GREAT post. lol. i will take that into consideration because im sure its not just meant for the english but also americans. lollllll
aaah, i shuddered when reading this, it reminded me of khayruz zaman and the thulm i felt when it first happened to me, except there WAS a line 🙁
but after that i found it quite funny when i did it to others too 😀
Thanks for this post Fajr. It reminded me of my time in Cairo, and the queue jumpers, especiallly in good-ole MacDonalds. Aaah, it was really annoying at first, and I soon realised that standing there in the so called queue was not going to work, so as they say if you can’t beat them, join them. Neverthless, I was very glad to be back home in the UK, where queue jumpers are frowned upon.
mashallah sister! May Allah reward you for your efforts in creating this funny yet beneficial blog! Was cracking up all the way til the end 🙂
as-salam alaykum,
I made the newbie mistake of attempting to queue at the ticket counter at Mubarak metro station. I was also pleasantly surprised when waiting to enter Cairo Towers, an Egyptian family tried to push to the front and the cashier made them join the back of the queue.