I agree it's not acceptable in the US and there are plenty of times/places where huge lines work well. I'm not making any statement about black friday Free-for-

I agree it's not acceptable in the US and there are plenty of times/places where huge lines work well. I'm not making any statement about black friday Free-for-all footage which in my opinion is rare and usually caused by bad policies chosen by store staff. My point is more about who is in charge of enforcing the social norms. In the US, it is up to the people in line to enforce the norms with other people in line. In Japan, there is usually an 'authority figure' nearby. This person may have no legal authority (other than a store uniform) but people defer to them. Huge lines can work well in any country. If they do, they are usually well attended by staff. An exception to this would be theme parks where extremely rigid pathways and geography of the line as well as distractions prevent any kind of disputes between line-waiters. Some US stores like Whole Foods use a single line and have staff/technology to help enforce fairness. In Japan, even small lines of 3-5 people at banks or stores are well-attended by staff who have an eye for fairness. This small-line behavior then tends to leak into situations where there is no attendant staff. Line-waiting behavior is one of the most fascinating things to look at when travelling. It teaches you a lot about your own culture. Other places where the culture caught me off guard were Russia, Italy, China and India.