which queue driver are you using? It seems you are using the default sync driver, which will executes jobs synchronously and not actually use a queue.
In the SO link you linked in your post there is a comment from user KristofM which suggests reading this blog post: [ http://laravelcoding.com/blog/laravel-5-beauty-sending-mail-and-using-queues#14-about-queues ], it is worth reading.
Also there are great videos here at Laracasts about queues: [ https://laracasts.com/search?q=queue&q-where=lessons ]. One in particular I would recommend is this: [ https://laracasts.com/lessons/beanstalkd-queues-with-laravel ]