Why is it that you can have everyone on an escalator standing on the right
yet there's always one muppet tourist standing on the left who doesn't
seem to clock that fact? Where do these people leave their brains when they
visit London?

--
Spud

On Thu, 25 Jul 2013 10:02:41 +0000 (UTC),
d wrote:

Why is it that you can have everyone on an escalator standing on the right
yet there's always one muppet tourist standing on the left who doesn't
seem to clock that fact? Where do these people leave their brains when they
visit London?

It's usually groups of two or more people who stand side-by-side,
chatting. They're probably from places where you don't get a stream of
people walking up and down escalators. Indeed, even in London, people
don't usually walk up and down escalators in shopping centres.

Here's an example I took of people just standing and not walking on
even a very long escalator to one of the world's deepest metros:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/recline...57633424928749

On Thu, 25 Jul 2013 12:41:21 +0100
Recliner wrote:
On Thu, 25 Jul 2013 10:02:41 +0000 (UTC),
wrote:

Why is it that you can have everyone on an escalator standing on the right
yet there's always one muppet tourist standing on the left who doesn't
seem to clock that fact? Where do these people leave their brains when they
visit London?

It's usually groups of two or more people who stand side-by-side,
chatting. They're probably from places where you don't get a stream of
people walking up and down escalators. Indeed, even in London, people
don't usually walk up and down escalators in shopping centres.

Here's an example I took of people just standing and not walking on
even a very long escalator to one of the world's deepest metros:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/recline...57633424928749

I guess when the escalator is SO long then no one will want to walk up anyway
it makes sense to allow standing on both sides.

--
Spud

In article , d
() wrote:

Why is it that you can have everyone on an escalator standing on the right
yet there's always one muppet tourist standing on the left who doesn't
seem to clock that fact? Where do these people leave their brains when
they visit London?

It appears to be a London-only convention. IME most people respond to a
polite "please stand on the right" request.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On Thu, 25 Jul 2013 07:09:48 -0500,
wrote:

In article , d
() wrote:

Why is it that you can have everyone on an escalator standing on the right
yet there's always one muppet tourist standing on the left who doesn't
seem to clock that fact? Where do these people leave their brains when
they visit London?

It appears to be a London-only convention. IME most people respond to a
polite "please stand on the right" request.

I saw an even worse blockage at Heathrow T3 last Sunday. An Indian
family decided to stop to have a discussion just before a moving
walkway. Other pax were swerving both sides of them, but they remained
impervious to the traffic jam they were causing.

Once on it, there doesn't seem to be much of a convention which side
one should stand or walk on while travelling on a moving walkway.

In message , at 13:18:14 on
Thu, 25 Jul 2013, Recliner remarked:

family decided to stop to have a discussion just before a moving
walkway. Other pax were swerving both sides of them, but they remained
impervious to the traffic jam they were causing.

Tourists often stop dead in their tracks at the top of escalators, or in
the town where I live a significant proportion of the residents stop
dead about a foot inside any shop they enter (and then again a foot
outside when they exit). And that's if they haven't stopped *in* the
doorway to have a conversation with someone.

I suppose you'd have to be new to the area to notice it.

Try that in most big cities and you'd be flattened!
--
Roland Perry

On Thu, 25 Jul 2013 07:09:48 -0500,
wrote:

[Standing on the right]
It appears to be a London-only convention. IME most people respond to a
polite "please stand on the right" request.

I've seen it all over Europe. "Rechts stehen, links gehen", or simply
an icon showing someone standing on the right and walking on the left
(difficult to show on one image!). Not always self-enforced, but
seems to work in Paris, for example.

Richard.

On 25/07/2013 14:03, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 13:18:14 on
Thu, 25 Jul 2013, Recliner remarked:

family decided to stop to have a discussion just before a moving
walkway. Other pax were swerving both sides of them, but they remained
impervious to the traffic jam they were causing.

Tourists often stop dead in their tracks at the top of escalators, or in
the town where I live a significant proportion of the residents stop
dead about a foot inside any shop they enter (and then again a foot
outside when they exit). And that's if they haven't stopped *in* the
doorway to have a conversation with someone.

I suppose you'd have to be new to the area to notice it.

Try that in most big cities and you'd be flattened!

What I really hate is how people stop just before getting on an
escalator and then wait so they can put their foot at the exact centre
of a footplate.

That is truly annoying.

wrote in message
...
In article , d
() wrote:

Why is it that you can have everyone on an escalator standing on the
right
yet there's always one muppet tourist standing on the left who doesn't
seem to clock that fact? Where do these people leave their brains when
they visit London?

It appears to be a London-only convention. IME most people respond to a
polite "please stand on the right" request.

I say "excuse me, please" while my body language conveys that I am intending
to pass on the left.

That works, usually.

--
Brian
"Fight like the Devil, die like a gentleman."

On Thursday, 25 July 2013 11:02:41 UTC+1, wrote:
Why is it that you can have everyone on an escalator standing on the right

yet there's always one muppet tourist standing on the left who doesn't

seem to clock that fact? Where do these people leave their brains when they

visit London?
--
Spud

At Heathrow its amusing to see passengers just arrived from a flight take the escalators down to the tube platforms. They usually stand all over the place, balancing luggage on the steps, chatting, and obviously wondering where to go when they get off.

Contrast this with passengers arriving from London, likely heading for Departures. Then they all stand on the right, with their luggage neatly arranged in front of them, so as not to block the left hand side. They've been well trained by irate commuters in the rush-hour!!

But the REALLY irritating ones are the tourists and commuters who are texting or doing Facebook or Twitter or something whilst on the escalators and then when they get to the end they step off and simply stop to finish what they were sending. Meanwhile others are piling up behind them not able to get off because their exit is effectively blocked. Actually this is quite dangerous. If I get caught behind one of these idiots the only real solution is to push them out of the way with some strongly chosen words aimed in their direction.

CJB.