|
It’s a long standing joke that Britons will queue for almost anything. Give us a reason and into line we will fall, safe in the knowledge that everyone knows and will abide by the unwritten, unspoken laws of ‘the queue’…until now, it seems.
It was today reported that a 57 year old man has died after an attack at a Sainsbury’s in Merton, south west London, provoked, seemingly, by queue jumping.
CCTV recorded the victim being accused of jumping a queue at a checkout at around 7pm on Tuesday 10th June by a woman who is then seen making a phone call and pointing the man out to a male who arrived shortly after. Said male then punched 57-year-old ‘Kevin Tripp’, father of 1, knocking him unconscious; Mr Tripp later entered a coma and died the next day as a result of ‘serious head injuries’.
This isn’t the first attack of its kind and it seems that Checkout Rage is a global phenomenon in itself, with similar stories being reported around the world.
Now, not that I’m defending it, but when did it become ok to jump queues, cut people up at roundabouts and to basically treat the world as if it revolves around you in the first place? If you do one of these things, expect to be reproached (not punched, reproached) – social niceties seem to have flown so far out the window that they’ve ended up in the next county, and that in turn makes me feel a little bit angry. On the flip side, it has to be said that the world has serious issues when you can be kicked and punched for loading 13 items onto the ’12 items or less’ checkout.
I don’t know what the cure is (aside from appointing etiquette police), all I know is that I’m going to join the back of that queue like a true Brit, defend my place when someone jumps in front, hope they don’t stab me, grit my teeth when they refuse to move, leave, and get on with my life safe in the knowledge that I haven’t been sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment just because I so desperately needed that extra 30 seconds the queue jumper in front of me stole from my day.
Author: Lorraine Shingler
Credited sources: timesonline.co.uk and davesdaily.com
All blogs are the opinions of the author and not the views of FSP or any other member of staff.
|