Queuing, queuing, queuing

Maybe I've truly inherited the American way of always being in a hurry, but I never would have said that until now.

Queuing, queuing, queuing. Also known as waiting in line, queuing seems to be a very British habit. At first, when I was traveling, I just thought it was because I was traveling, and then last week I thought it was just because we were registering for classes and what not. Any maybe it'll change, but I don't think it will. Today was the first day of classes, and I waited in line half an hour to drop some classes.

I've waited in long lines to get on the bus, to check out at the grocery, at the ATM and to book trips at the travel shop. I've waited in line to get into clubs and at the end of the night to get taxis. I've heard other people talk about waiting in line for an hour or more for all kinds of things. I, in my impatience, usually come back an hour or two later or the next day If I can. I feel like I'm at Cedar Point all the time.

Maybe I just notice it because I'm a little nervous about everything new I try here, and thus, I'm a bit more anxious. But I really do think that queuing is a very British thing. I'd never even heard a one-word way to say "waiting in line" until I came here.

And these aren't lines like, with two or three people ahead of you. Sometimes, but there were 20 people in line for the ATM today. There was last week when I needed it, too. Maybe I just have really bad timing at going the places where I need to go.

The buses I can understand. You have to wait on the bus to get there in the first place. But with taxis, queues of people form and then queues of cabs form. And the cab drivers won't let you in if you try to just go to one that's towards the back. They wait too. I don't know if I've ever seen that in the U.S., but then again, I've never had to take cabs very often in the U.S.

If you ever visit the U.K., expect lots of queues. I think the only place I haven't had to wait in line is the bathroom — not at the airport or the train stations, not even at the pubs and clubs, which you always have to wait in line for in the U.S. I think it's because the U.K. has more toilets.

At least they've got the important ones right. I should probably be more grateful for that and less whiny about the rest. So I will. Here lies my last complaints about queuing the the U.K.

The end.