WHILE standing in line at a fast food joint one afternoon, I noticed a man impatiently walking up to a closed counter demanding to be served immediately.

The man, in his 50s, chose to ignore the long line of people waiting to place their orders and demanded he be served first.

What I witnessed next irked me and others in the queue as he started raising his voice at the staff.

The man turned a deaf ear even as a staff member politely asked him to wait in line.

He questioned why they were understaffed and demanded that one of them drop what they were doing and attend to him immediately.

To please him, the staff looked into his order but even after he got his food, he continued criticising the eatery.

He was heard telling his wife that the line was too long and he would not queue up for food.

The man even said it was a good thing he did what he did as other customers were too afraid to voice their displeasure.

From my observation, no one in that queue was agitated or annoyed as most were seen chatting happily with their friends.

Honestly, the wait was not even that long to begin with.

Sadly, this is a scene often seen here in the Klang Valley, where people somehow seem to turn a blind eye to a queue and cannot patiently wait their turn .

Even in the women’s washroom, there will always be that one person who shamelessly walks past a queue and casually stands right in front of a cubicle.

All this brings to mind an incident that happened to me not too long ago at a boutique.

I saw a woman shouting at a staff member behind the counter, demanding to be served first.

Despite being fourth in line, the 50-something was impatient and wanted to place her shopping items on the check-out counter.

Unperturbed by the multiple angry glares from customers, one of whom even told her off, the woman continued pushing her way forward and said she was in a hurry and wanted to pay first.

I believe such behaviour boils down to early education and one’s family culture.

In fact, the younger and older generation should be given a lesson or two about being courteous and civilised.

More so when our country is moving towards being a developed country. The future generation needs to be educated on how to behave in public.

The older generation needs to learn how to set good examples for generations to come.

We certainly do not want to become a society that is labelled uncultured by people from first world nations where etiquette and social mannerisms are given high priority.

We do not want to be a country with first-class technology but with third world mentality.

Uncultured people have the habit of spitting anywhere and everywhere, easing themselves in public and cutting queues every chance they get.

Instead, we should learn from Japan. In addition to being a highly developed nation, the Japanese are also known worldwide as one of the most courteous, well-mannered and patient societies.

Everything about their country is about being patient and orderly.

People believe in waiting out their turn and queuing up to board the train during peak hours.

Once the train is full, those who failed to board will just wait for the next train to arrive.

You will hardly ever see the people at the back pushing their way forward.

Having personally witnessed this, I know that living in a civilised, courteous and well-mannered society is possible.

But it boils down to our parents and teachers, and the good manners, respect and good habits they instil in us from young.

We need to set a good example for the younger generation to emulate and hopefully when they become adults, they will continue displaying good social etiquette that will make Malaysians a cultured lot.

At the end of the day, education is key in ensuring that people behave the right way at home and in public.