There is a joke outside these shores that Brits are excellent when it comes to the art of standing in a queue.

Not that there is a lot of art to it, of course. You are, after all, just standing there. But, in this post-Brexit world, it is one of the few things we can be considered world leaders in. So let’s not knock it.

But modern advances mean many of the younger generation may not be getting in the practice which has left so many of us a class apart when it comes to a bit of organised, patient waiting.

Not long ago, we seemed to have to form an orderly queue for pretty much anything and everything.

Take, for example, getting into the latest big box office movie. Once upon a time, if you wanted to ensure you had a seat, you needed to build in ‘queue time’ to make sure you could actually get into the auditorium in an era before advance online selling of tickets was a thing.

The bigger the movie, the more time you’d need to spend in the queue. I have, over the years, become intimately acquainted with the pavements outside movie houses in Tunbridge Wells, Ashford, Canterbury (none of which still exist today) and Folkestone to name but a few. But at least you felt like you’d earned your spot and, frankly, were pleased for the sit down once inside.

Today, you book online and stroll in five minutes before it starts, safe in the knowledge there is a chair reserved for you.

While there’s always a story about online demand for gig tickets, back in the 1980s, securing your spot meant one of two things. Either you wore out your finger dialling up the telephone box office or you actually went to the venue and joined a queue. Many would even camp out. Just for the ticket.

Mind you, that was when all tickets cost the same and those prepared to queue up would get front block seats. Today, it seems, only those with the deepest pockets can actually watch the biggest names without the need of a pair of binoculars.

While I appreciate not everyone embraces online banking, the days of queuing up to pay in your pay cheque or sort out a payment are now a thing of the past for many. Firstly, cheques rarely get used and secondly most banks seem to have closed their branches. Why? Because with a couple of thumb presses you can now do pretty much everything someone behind the counter used to do on your mobile phone. While sat on the loo. The only drawback of this is that no longer is it easy to pick up a couple of free biros at the bank’s expense.

Ditto with Post Offices. You can even arrange for packages to be collected by your postman (or woman) – standing in a queue while someone at the front is buying a TV licence can now be neatly sidestepped. You don’t even need to queue for stamps anymore – just pay and print out the label at home.

No wonder we’re all getting obese.

Then there was that time on a night out when you needed to use a phone. So you joined the queue at a public phone box and prayed to God the person in front was calling their mum for a lift, rather than making their weekly call to a far-flung lover and, as a consequence, settling in for a long chat with a big pile of ten pence pieces.

Now we all carry smartphones which can summon lifts without even the need for the power of speech.

Remember when doing the ‘big shop’ at a supermarket would, almost inevitably, conclude with a lengthy wait at the tills – normally with someone in front of you handing the cashier a wad of coupons they hoped would erode the price by a couple of quid?

Yes, you may still get a slight delay, but today you can scan as you shop then smugly go to a ‘smart shop’ checkout point and be on your way in moments – pausing only for someone to verify that my grey and balding head does indeed stand as my proof of age for the bottle of wine I’ve purchased.

And finally – in this non-exhaustive list – remember when shops used to have Boxing Day and New Year’s sales? People desperate for yet more stuff would queue overnight for the big department stores in pursuit of some (back then, genuine) bargains.

Today, you need not even leave your sofa – the sales normally start on Christmas Day so you can simply join the rest of your family staring at a screen and buy what you need on your phone or tablet, while pondering what Quality Street to munch on.

Of course, anyone who has been to an airport over the summer will know that if queuing is something you miss in normal life, there’s ample opportunity to get in some practice waiting to check in, go through security and board the plane.

Plus when a dentist opens their books for NHS patients, a Poundland opens, a foodbank is up and running or some jobs are advertised, we can still show we have what it takes to ‘do’ queuing.

Is the lack of queues today a bad thing? No, of course not. Let’s be honest, no one enjoyed it. Just don’t expect everyone to know how to respect the mechanics of the orderly line if the trend continues.

And if you’re really missing it, jump in your car and head to any of Kent’s major roads...you will, almost certainly, find a queue there where any etiquette about jumping the line has long since been forgotten. Our patience in such a setting, while behind the wheel of a vehicle, it seems, is far from world-class.