Day 165: Queuing on trains

Swedes are creatures of habit, as another English person noted to me. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the daily commute. There is a pattern to how people will sit, an exact art to the correct seat to chose and a whole political science behind placing your bag on the seat and entering into a "dare you" stare with potential sitters.

Many of these things can, arguably, be found on British commutes. But one thing I don't think I've ever seen is the amount of queuing on trains done by Swedes. I understand that in winter it may be preferable to walk the length of the train inside rather than in the cold outside. However,one can simply walk through the empty train once everyone else has got off if the temperature is preferable on board.

Furthermore, this behavior is exhibited throughout winter and summer, thereby proving the fact that Swedes are habitual, if temperature is the motivation for queuing.

I always get a seat at the latter portion of the carriage. Why? Because Swedish people are habitual, they always sit in the front portion of the carriage. When the seats are full, do they move down the train? Do they fuck. They stand in the portion of the train to which they are accustomed regardless of how crowded.

This crowd is exacerbated by the fact that, when the train is within a minute of the destination, many Swedes emigrate to the end of the carriage and form a line for the last door (see bad photos). These people will queue irrespectively of the fact that the next available door, at 5 metres away, has no queue and can be exited immediately.