Law & (Dis)Order

German transportation systems have long been renowned for their punctuality and efficiency. Although most of my travel over the past couple of years has been by train or bus, I have taken a fair number of flights within Europe and back to the U.S. And it’s at the airport where ideas of efficiency and order fly right out the window.

This couple started waiting at the gate before the previous
flight had even departed.

Germans are not the only ones guilty of this. In large part, North Americans and passengers from the U.K. seem to be the only ones who are at a loss for the free-for-all that occurs at a European airline gate.

But I’m picking on Germans because this is the land of rules, regulations, and Alles in Ordnung. Apparently, that applies to everything except the formation of a single, well-mannered line.

My experiences were confirmed when I saw this post asking why Germans can’t queue. Funny, but sadly true. 

I remember a trip we took years ago, to a German friend’s hometown. We were going on a short river cruise, and when the boat arrived it was a mob scene to get on board. 

Our friend admonished the crowd to behave respectably and orderly: "We’re in Germany, for God’s sake!”

So what's the deal? I don't notice it as often in day-to-day life, mainly with travel. I recently saw an article in Condè Nast about airline boarding procedures, and a follow-on article looking at Lufthansa and their explanations for a lack of formal policy.

This was the priority and families boarding "line."

Yet even in the U.S., where we’re often criticized for the every-man-for-himself mentality for getting ahead, we still usually obey those norms in polite society that say “wait your turn.”

On the return flight from our recent vacation, I saw a glimmer of hope. On the screen at the gate, a message scrolled in German, announcing that boarding would begin at the back of the plane, rows 20-44. 

Gate staff announced boarding for priority members and families with children under the age of 2. There was a pause as that group cleared through. I held my breath. 

Then the usual onslaught followed.

As I stepped away from Larry to take this picture
of the multiple boarding lanes narrowing to one checkpoint,
a new group formed behind me!

There was not even an announcement about general boarding, and certainly no reference to the instructions rolling overhead on the screen. People just started moving forward. 

I am not a tall person by American standards, which puts me at an even greater disadvantage in a crowd of towering Germans.

As we jostled to funnel three or so “lines” into one, I thought about all of those times I took boarding by rows for granted, and when I grumbled as more U.S. airlines switched to boarding by groups. 

Never again will I consider those systems tedious or chaotic. What’s that old saying? 

Man weiß nicht, was man hat, bis es weg ist.