European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 20, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Mic Over h Ere Sas. Dave Aldio >4 dying tradition shoppers form a Loose queue As they wait for a bus in downtown London. Britons forgetting their p s and queues by William Tuohy los Angeles times he queue that longstanding exemplar of British convention is under threat a from within. A most distressing habit queue jumping is on the Rise and May Well be threatening civilization As the British know it. The queue a the traditional first come first served file of customers More or less in a straight line a has been faithfully observed Here since the dimmest memories of cultural observers. British queue for buses for taxis for food for tickets for just about everything. Quietly and politely. As a wag once put it Quot an englishman even if he is alone forms an orderly queue of for More than a Century at least the British have professed to abhor the practice of scrambling for tickets seats or anything else the every Man for himself scrimmage that britons believe is characteristic on the continent particularly in the Mediterranean areas that the British describe As latin. But times clearly Are changing. These Days queue jumping is becoming More frequent in Britain and an Oxford University psychologist Peter Collett sees danger to traditional British civility in this trend. The breakdown of queuing Collett said is a Quot great threat to our sense of stability and order Quot which could Lead to Quot highly charged Quot situations. In a recent Book called foreign bodies a guide to european mannerisms Collett identifies the various types of queue jumping afflicting British civilization. Getting a line on queues what does an orderly queue say about the people standing in it american anthropologist Edward Hall says queues Are found in societies where people Are treated As equals and espouse the egalitarian Ideal. Standing in line distributes waiting time equally adds British psychologist Peter Collett and nations that value time and punctuality tend to favor queues a while societies that take a More dismissive attitude to time prefer to do without queues. The italians French and spaniards Are the least queue conscious in Europe. Quot this Quot Collett said Quot is because latins do not accept the Basic philosophy behind queuing namely the idea that people should be served in the order in which they arrive. For them a queue is an imposition an unwarranted form of regulation and interference like the government Quot it is debasing regimented and it prevents individuals from using their intelligence and initiative to personal a los Angeles times jockeying he said consists of shifting from one line to another in a Multi queue supermarket to find the fastest line. A. Colonizing is keeping a Sharp Eye open for another Cash counter or ticket window to open and dashing to reach the head of the new queue. Then there Are the transgressors who pretend that they did t notice a queue and slip into an up front Gap in the line. Quot what s remarkable about jockeying and colonizing is that they Are regarded As quite legitimate even though they contravene the Basic Rule about first come first served Quot Collett said. That tradition has some remarkable permutations in Britain even in these Days. In some instances Collett Points out the British do not queue physically say in shops or pubs where they form Quot invisible queues Quot expecting the person behind a counter to remember who is next to be served. Often an orderly British customer will Point to another person to indicate the first Quot in Quot this kind of self denial is something the latins do not understand Quot Collett said Quot unless it is performed with some ulterior motive in the British Collett said Quot have a compulsive need for orderliness not in terms of requiring a neat and tidy environment but in the sense of needing to know where they stand and what to expect. Quot they usually feel uncomfortable when the situation is fluid or where there is a general free for All a when goods Are not priced when they have to bargain Over a Purchase and when the rules of the game so to speak Are not Clear. Predictability is essential for the subject Germany s True nudes Are barely surviving by Christian Ebner Deutsche Prusse Agenter nudism was a serious business in Germany in the past and it still is today. Jorg Damm should know. The Kassel schoolteacher has spent 11 years compiling Germany s most comprehensive Library of information about nudism which germans Call Quot of Kkt a for Short. A Quot someone who likes diving into the water with no clothes on is not necessarily a Akk fan a said Damm. The collection of 3,000 books newspapers and brochures in Damn no a cellar goes Back to the Pioneer Days of the movement and continues the work of his father Karl Willi Damm who decided to put aside and save anything connected with a nude there Are scientific texts theoretical and poetical tracts along with testimonials from 19th-Century Quot Light physicians Quot who hailed the Healing Power of a Good naked frolic in the gardens of a Well screened Sanatorium. But membership in some of the organizations mentioned in the annals of nudism such As the German association for decent using does t sound like much fun. What wiped off any remaining grins on nudists faces was the abuse of their healthy Pursuit by the nazis in the 1930s. The National fighting federation of naturism which took Over Many naturist organizations in Germany was More interested in Quot ethnic Hygiene Quot and Quot steeling Quot the bodies of future soldiers. But somehow nudism survived and in 1950 the German Akk federation was founded in Kassel. Today there Are 75,000 paying members and an administration Center in Hanover. Vice president Wolfgang went Rich expects the influx of members from the five states in former East Germany where Quot textile free Quot bathing was Quot a much More natural thing Quot than in Western Germany to continue. Around 10,000 people in Eastern Germany have joined the organization since unification in 1990. Despite the upturn in the East and a general Lack of inhibitions in German society Damm laments the decline of the Quot True among these Are naturists who remove their clothes for ideological reasons. Their nakedness often goes hand in hand with vegetarianism the Pursuit of healthy sports and rejection of drugs such As nicotine and alcohol. This holistic approach is Seldom found in Germany a current nudism clubs Many of which Are turning into regular Sef Orts clubs and the number of those who regularly go about naked is on the decline. Quot these Days Quot Damm laments Quot Young people in the clubs Only take their clothes off to go Scrippa Howard news service swimmers not True nudists monday june 20, 1994 the stars and stripes 15
