Queue Jumping: Proper Response To Shameless Middle Aged Woman

After patiently waiting in line for 45 minutes at a train station in a popular tourist destination, a middle aged woman shamelessly rushed to the ticket window by way of the exit from the window, while the previous customer was putting her tickets away, etc.. I was unable to convince the woman working at the window, (who had to know that this was inappropriate), that I was rightfully the next person in line. Shockingly, no one else behind me got offended, as would have happened in any English speaking country. (Like this is an accepted practice coming from communist times.)

What is the appropriate response to this rudeness?
What rights does a person have when this happens?
Since it was rightfully my time, did I have the right to interfere in the transaction, i.e,, did I have the right to rip up the women's ticket that she got by stealing my time?

Don't be silly. What 'rights' would you have in 'any English speaking country'? This is not a question of the law but a question of basic manners and etiquette. If somebody is rude, ignorant and selfish, then you deal with it according to the norms of the culture.


In Poland, it's considered perfectly ok to start shouting at the person who's just committed a breach of etiquette and cause a bit of a scene. You also have to shout at the person behind the ticket window. I know that elsewhere such behaviour might get you arrested but it's not likely to happen in Poland. The woman behind the window will start shouting back at you and the person who jumped the queue will shout too. Then after you've all had a shouting match the whole thing will subside.


Would you do that in America??? I doubt it. Or England?? Ditto. No you don't have that 'right'. Wrestling the ticket from the woman's hands is assault and speaking of 'stealing', destroying a ticket she's just paid for, is theft, unless you reimburse her for it.

It certainly is a question of law, or the lack of it. A person doing this elsewhere might easily get a criminal citation for disorderly conduct, since it is behavior intended to cause a public disturbance. As long as there is no penalty for a breach of basic social etiquette, such behavior will continue. Retailers like hyper markets have gotten better at handling this, but the PKP not.


Not if she had no legal right to make the purchase before waiting in the queue. I invested 45 minutes of my time waiting to buy by ticket, and she clearly stole my time. If I ripped her ticket up and she had to wait in the line to get a new one, then some justice would be done.


Just to add, I need not rip the ticket out of the woman's hands, since I might take it from the window ledge. If this were a man doing this, or two women, then more forceful action might be considered acceptable. This woman was clearly playing on the fact that a man would be less likely to fight her for position at the window. It would look very badly, and possibly cause a problem with the police, for a man to hip check a woman away from the window. With two men, it might just be considered acceptable.

Elsewhere? In which country is queue jumping at the ticket window a criminal offence? Be specific please.


The right to extend or refuse service is at the discretion of the retailer. If the retailer sold her the ticket, she obtained her ticket legitimately. Now, in order to put a stop to this kind of thing, you should bring a test case against PKP, try your argument in court and see how you get on. If necessary you can take this to the European courts.


So why didn't you do that? Try it next time and see what happens.

In this case the retailer is a government owned company that by law cannot discriminate against the public. That means all should wait their turn in line.


New York City is one place where this would be considered disorderly conduct and/or creating a public disturbance. New Yorkers would not stand quietly and ignore a person doing this. Most everyone waiting in the queue would be irate, not just the next person in line.

Yes it is very irritating when people queue jump but it's hardly the end of the world is it? I've had it happen many times in Poland, and in my own country too, there are rude people everywhere unfortunately.

I don't think I would be that mad that I would contemplate ripping up her ticket though.
I did once have a woman who looked to be in her twenties forcibly push me out of the way to get on a tram that I had been waiting for. I could hardly believe that someone would do that to be honest. By that time the tram was full so I had to wait for the next one.

Get over it, there are far worse things in life that could happen. Next time shout back at someone, because there most definitely will be a next time!!

Just to throw you a bone here, in the UK, on the London Underground:

'Under the terms of a bye-law it is illegal to "Jump" the queue in the tube ticket hall. Any person directed by a notice to queue (or when asked to queue by an authorised person) shall join the rear of the queue and obey the reasonable instructions of any authorised person.'

However, note it's not a national law, applying to all queues, only to the London Underground. Also it only applies if there is a sign or if the person is requested by a member of staff to do so.

In the UK a bye-law has to be a Municpal one, set by a local authority, as opposed to a company or corporation, in order to be prosecutable as a criminal offence. So even in Britian, home of orderly queues, queue jumping is not a criminal act.


So how many times have you

a)seen the police called

and

b)a commuter being forcibly held until their arrival?

My guess is never.

And do you know why? Because the staff would presumably have to use some form of force to detain the person until the arrival of the police and the subway would be laying themselves open to a law suit by the commuter. Also the police don't take kindly to having their time wasted in this manner, considering the serious assaults and criminal offences they have to deal with.

If you had been waiting for 45 minutes in a long queue, and someone ignored the queue and caused you to miss a train, you might feel the urge to do something more demonstrative. I suspect that this is a communist era legacy which is against general Polish culture and etiquette. It is the kind of behavior that most Poles would associate with Russians or Ukrainians. Yes, every country has its share of rude, ill-mannered people. How it deals with them is the issue.


Try doing this in New York, and see how fast the transit cops make an arrest or issue a citation. (They don't need to be called usually, as they are already there.) You have never been to New York...If you can make it there, you'll make it any where!

Just immediately step in front of them blocking their way, this may require a certain amount of nudging and a little use of he K word with a brief explanation that you were in front of them. , this doesn't work if the person in front lets someone in, but again a loud K and a suggestion that they ought to go to the back of the queue is the polite and correct thing to do in this sort of situation.

Sadly this happens allot in Poland but it is also very common in Arab countries.

Yes Dolno, masz rację. The OP asked what he should do to deal with the situation in Poland, not in New York or anywhere else and that's how it's handled here.

Oddly enough, even though Polish men on the whole are courteous to women, there are times when shouting at a woman in public is acceptable and this is one of them, proceeded by a suitably outraged 'no, proszę Pani'.

If the OP doesn't have fluent Polish, he just needs to learn a few handy phrases and bellow them at the top of his voice. You have to get plenty of attitude into the 'k' word and lots of rolliing of the 'r's - no K*RRRRWA, co Pani, K*RRRRWA robi??'. That's the style isn't it? :))

Atch "co Pan, Pani, K*RRRRWA robi??'.

Spot on, if i am with the wife the wife deals with the women and likewise I deal with the blokes, I have never known this type of situation get overly aggressive or violent , shouting is the norm in Poland, can be a bit of a shock for a visitor to Poland it just takes a little time to get into the swing of things here.

I don't know why everyone in the queue doesn't get outraged at this kind of behavior, as would happen in North America. Twenty angry people are more likely to get the woman working the window to understand that something unacceptable happened, and that was the one person who needed to take charge and require the queue jumper to go to the back of line. The woman in front of me was blocking me from getting to the window and I had a large bag which made things difficult. This woman was a profession queue jumper for sure. She knew exactly what she was doing. I also don't know how easily I might have "nudged" her away from the window after she snuck in there. Sure I am bigger than she is, but once she starts talking to the PKP worker and I were to use my weight to make her move, I don't know how that looks.


And if that fails to work then what? Spit in her face? I am trying to understand where the limits are, and why no one else other than me will set the boundaries.

"Spit in her face" No not a good idea , just use "co Pan, Pani, K*RRRRWA robi??'." as Atch suggested.

I have in my time seen the whole queue complain and the offender sent off to the back of the line, try some other queues and let us know how you get on.

P.S you can always pay the conductor on the train (But check first) that's what I do , he /she comes to me so no queuing.

My Polish lawyer friend advises me that there is not civil fine for queue jumping. Thus no disincentive for the shameless to try cutting to the front of the line. Even a small chance of success makes it worth a try for them since it is a free chance. So, it will occur often.


My Polish lawyer friend advises, that although not frequently enforced, it is a minor crime to use the K word in public. If this happens again, I will be more vocal, and will also consider ways to disrupt communication and payment for the ticket, i.e., banging on the window glass and/or microphone, denying access to the credit card reader, etc., while being careful not to physically remove the witch. Ultimately, the PKP employee behind the window needs to enforce the posted "queue starts here" sign.


I have been in quite a few through the years in Poland. Usually people are very polite. If someone had to catch a train, they would frequently ASK if they could go to the front of the line. With tickets on sale on line, and only 10 zloty penalty for paying the conductor, there is less need for that now.


I should add, that ultimately I found a bus nearby that was faster and cheaper than taking the train. So PKP lost a customer with its extremely poor customer service.