Enlarge By Alessandro Abbonizio, AFP/Getty Images Londoners form a "queue" outside a restaurant. A consumer watchdog group says Britons should act like Americans and demand better service. LONDON  It's one of the most visible signs of British civility: Stand politely in line and wait your turn. Whether at check-out registers, bus stops or bank windows, people silently line up — or "queue" — and then wait some more. The queues usually form on their own without being imposed by the store or bank. And despite long lines, Britons seldom complain. It's a matter of proper etiquette. Now, a consumer watchdog group says Britons should act more like Americans and demand better customer service. Businesses take for granted that people are all too happy to wait. "Around the world, people associate Britain with queuing. It needs to change. We need an American impatience," says Ed Mayo, chief of Consumer Focus, an advocacy group created by Parliament to champion consumer rights. "We need to ditch the service culture that assumes that the customer can wait," he says. "Queuing is almost a culture of low expectations. Low expectations don't cut it in a global economy." Mayo's group studied the waiting times in British post offices, finding that at least one in five patrons stood in line more than 10 minutes for service. That's too long, the group says. "If that was in the United States, people would be livid," says Allyson Stewart-Allen, an American who has lived in Britain for 20 years. Stewart-Allen, director of International Marketing Partners in London, watches British manners and customs closely as she consults with American and British businesses. Despite her own frustrations with long lines, Stewart-Allen says British customs shouldn't be ignored if people want to succeed here. Among her routine advice for Yanks: Don't march "to the front of the queue." She warns that the British "take queuing very seriously. Everybody has to wait their turn. People who don't wait their turn are sanctioned by those who are in the queue." That practice was taken to the extreme earlier this year. Tony Virasami, 38, is awaiting trial on manslaughter charges after admitting in court last month that he slapped another London man he thought had jumped ahead in a supermarket line last summer. The man, who had chronic fatigue syndrome, hit his head on the floor and died four days later. Martin Skinner, a social psychologist at England's University of Warwick, says Britons' tradition of queuing likely evolved as the nation rejected feudal class divisions and became more democratic. Queues, Skinner says, represent equal rights — first come, first served, regardless of rank. "There's an etiquette to it that people agree to in principle: People should be served in the order in which they line up," he says. "I like it. I tend to think it's civilized." Skinner, however, notes an exception to principle. "In bars, we don't queue," he says. "We all just pile up." Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more