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Comment by mikeash | Hacker News Reader

At least the queueing thing totally applies to people in China too. There's little queueing culture in many circumstances, so you either learn to shove ahead or you get left behind.

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Queuing isn't the objectively correct way to wait for something, it's a specific cultural norm. Many cultures don't queue at all. Attitudes to queue-jumping vary widely, from being an immense faux pas to practically a sport. The British and Russians have a penchant for queuing-without-queuing, with each person keeping a mental note of the order in which everyone is waiting to be served.

http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/everyone-line-up-canadas...

Indeed, I wouldn't say it's objectively wrong, but it's a big culture shock and can leave you feeling pretty upset if you come from a place where queuing behavior is more regular. Especially since so much of China is so crowded, so having people go in front of you "unfairly" can really screw you over, not just set you back a couple of minutes.

IMO it's objectively superior! I'm fine with queuing-without-queuing as long as it's not abused. Queuing at least makes the order absolutely clear so that people can't as easily change the order, intentionally or accidentally.

I assume you're only pointing out that queuing-without-queuing is a thing, not defending queue-jumping or places where the lack of any ordered system means whoever is strongest pushes to the front.

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