Stubborn Dutchies

I know, this is not The Greatest Blip Ever, but it is about something that makes me smile every day :)

It is about the way dutch people use escalators... I have been told that in the UK and I believe a lot of Asian countries it is normal when using the escalator that people who are standing on the right part of the escalator are stationary (but moving, as they are on an escalator, duh!) making room for people who are in a hurry and want to run up or down the escalator. Super smart idea! But impossible in the Netherlands....

In the Netherlands appearantly people don't see the cleverness of above described behavior, and behave differently.

There is a perfect description about the way Dutchies behave when waiting for a train to arrive in a book called 'The Unduchables' and it is also a description about how we like to behave on an escalator:

'When you are waiting for a train, form a compact mass with the other who are waiting, and do so as soon as the vehicle appears in the distance. When it arrives, block the doors so the exiting passengers cannot leave. Above all, do not move out of the way when the doors open and people attempt to get out, as this might speed things up. After all, you wouldn't want anyone to get ahead of you in the mob. If however, you are a passenger waiting to exit, then you have the right to curse the stupid idiots blocking your way.

This also happens at escalators, people tend to block the left part also, making sure people in a hurry never reach their bus in time ;)

I have seen several solutions from the Dutch Railways to solve this problem, this sign being the latest one... It says something like 'please stand on the right part of the escalator' and a white stripe was painted in the middle of the escalator.

As you can see, it is not catching on ;)