This has got to be one of the major problems I have encountered in Germany the past 22 or so years as a foreigner, and I must say I haven't seen it anywhere else. So some SERIOUS answers would be appreciated, and not the riff-raff that occasionally trickles in. My questions may sometimes be pointed, but I assure all they are seriously posed.
If one enters an establishment and there are no barriers or ropes set up to channel traffic to service people waiting on the other side of a counter, Germans will NEVER be able to form a single line in front of each cashier/teller/service person! They mill around in a mass, looking to butt in front of someone, which is both rude and hazardous to one's health where I come from. The worst are the morons who are not in any line at all, but in the MIDDLE of clearly-delineated lines waiting to pop in front of someone..talk about risky behavior. I have NEVER failed to address anyone who cut in front of me, and my "schimpfen" is not easily forgotten.
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