The grocery store, and for that matter every public place, should have a fast lane for people who are experienced errand runners and a slow lane for people who act like they're on a sightseeing tour
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Or maybe we need to teach the value of slowing down in life. Burn out happens, thinking those around you are doing things too slowly is one of the signs.
I wonder, have you ever had to wait extra long in a drive thru. If so, the reason is, your order was given to the skip the dishes driver who came in after you placed your order. Errand runners or delivery services should just wait their turn in store.
I think we should have capital punishment for people who have more than eight items in the express lane. Also, people who drive slowly in the passing lane and those who stand on the left side of the escalator should also face capital punishment.
They should just have a slow grocery store and a fast grocery store. SlowMart and SpeedyMart. Stop & Shop and Go & Shop. Safeway and Dangerously Rapid Way.
But also a lane with baggers who know how to bag.. every time it's 1 or 2 items to a plastic bag and chuck it in cart. And if you bring your own bags they have no clue what to do, maybe they go on their feet or head..
i guarantee if there is a designated fast lane all the impatient people will go to it and it will be the slowest. thus as a patient person i support this plan, it directly benefits me
I just stop myself from feeling that I need to rush anywhere. I chill. I will get to a point where I can pass. How about factoring in the time due to people of varying speeds.
Planning is better than not, but it is not a guarantee, and if you’d actually read what I wrote instead of reacting based on your ~ludicrous~ belief that one can plan to never be in a hurry, this would not make sense as a response.
I go through the grocery store like that overly competitive friend when y'all go go-karting. I forget stuff and just change the recipe. Won't even go back..
Or the people chatting on their phone while the store clerk scans everything and then bags it all for them…because they are too busy chatting in the phone. Help with the bagging people! Move the line!
I would love lanes specially designated for:
* The "let me get out my check book and write you a check" lane
* The "I'm going to use cash and the spare change I can find" lane
* The "aimless smalltalk" lane
* The "I'm going to have such a complicated transaction the manager will be required" lane
The "I'm going to pay for my $20 bill with only nickels and dimes while everyone waits for me to fish it out of my bag and then the cashier counts it all" lane
Come on, get over it, some people take their time while in public places. Take it easy, public places are not for people in a rush. People need to show respect for other people who go to public places to enjoy life.
And/or a slow lane for people who want to go slow and talk and make a fuss of it.
I’m very much in the errand runner category… but I’ve seen the elderly in particular just wanting social connection and a chat. I don’t begrudge them that, but our priorities are wildly different and incompatible.
It'd be simpler to just have one lane, served by all registers. It would look off-putting since it would look longer, but it would move optimally fast; the queue would simply route around slowpokes.
That's not chaos at all. People are in line, the head of the line goes to the next available register. No guessing about what line is shortest. No one risks getting stuck behind a slowpoke but unwilling to lose their place by jumping lines.
This isn't a theoretical solution, I've experienced it.
Normally I am the slow idiot in our relationship while my gf is the fast impatient one, but I was so proud to show her my Aldi trolley/conveyor/bagging routine. It’s like a ballet crossed with a military drill. While they don’t necessarily show it I can tell the cashiers are impressed and relieved.
Related, fast food drive throughs should have an express lane for people who ordered ahead on the app. I shouldn't have to wait while soccer mom orders four different happy meals while I just need to say four words, "mobile order for Mike." GTFOOMW.
You know the slowpokes would just get in the fast lane anyways, some from obliviousness, some from legitimately not realizing they are the ones the rest of us complain about, and some just to save a little time
I feel my blood pressure rise when people wait as long as possible before getting their card out. Surprise! You have to pay this time too. Just like absolutely every other time.
I was standing behind a guy who bought several complete display boxes of goods (12 packs pasta etc.) The check out woman made him unpack every box so that she could count them. Aaargh!
My mum up at the front asking for rain cheques and how the cashier’s family is doing, then vaguely remembering this is a transaction and spending two minutes looking for exact change
Yeah some places do do this and it’s great. The cream and sugar is self serve too, some places just leave a bucket to pay for your drip coffee so you don’t have to wait for all the espresso and pastry people
Please & thank you!! It's so aggravating standing in line behind people that act as though they've never used a U-Scan in their lives. It really ain't that hard...😒
This is modern hunting+gathering. Eons ago our ancestors fought wild beasts and ate poisoned berries. Now we must navigate weaker, slower shoppers who are incapable of finding the cheapest butter on any given day.
Love to be behind people who seem entirely new to the "exchanging currency or swiping card for goods and services" and need to have everything explained from economic first principles
I think my beef isn't with people being slow so much as being unaware that other people exist. People at the airport love to stop and set their bags down in the middle of the walkway. What are you doing man
My husband did that yesterday in busy DFW. 🙄
I just stepped to the side to watch the collisions and near-misses. It was better than a Marx Brothers’ routine. Lots of clever, colorful curses I’d never heard before.
Hubs will never learn unless he one day ends up in the ER. 🤭
legit there's some grocery store out there that introduced separate lanes for people who wanted to talk to someone during checkout and people who didn't, need this shit everywhere
Yes and "experienced errand runner" is a title that is EARNED and MAINTAINED. Plenty of Sunday shoppers think they are quick but have refused to stay on top of their game and should be demoted.
It will become like the left lane on the highway, where people convince themselves that as long as they are going one nanometer a kilo-eon faster then the car beside them, they are technically passing it and can occupy the lane indefinitely.
Huge proponent for one way aisles… or least stay to the fucking right.
Encountered a person who didn’t understand how the checkout lanes at Trader Joe’s worked. She was crowding the card swiper with the cart in the way and had no idea the checker scans her stuff. Her excuse was she’s Canadian.
Also, if you're in line in a fast food, etc. restaurant, and there's more than one person in front of you, if you haven't made up your mind by the time it's your turn, you have to go to the back of the line and try again.
And yet that's never happened in all my years on this planet, so they have to receive the punishment. Don't blame me, I just make the rules and enforce them!
Also, if you in a bar and stand guppy like asking "what's good here" knowing full well you're going to pretend to enjoy the "hoppy" IPA that the bored bar tender half suggested and not admit that all you wanted was a pilsner...you lose the right to drink for 5 days.
Oh man, I'm not super knowledgeable when it comes to bar drinks, but I know I love hefeweizen, so I'm good the vast majority of the time. They either have one, and I get that, or I just get something like a Blue Moon and move on.
Instead, you get the ancient check writer who doesn't even start looking for the check book until everything has been rung up, in the 10 items or less lane.
It'd have to be policed. The sheer number of fucking people I see taking their trolleys through the basket self checkout bit, never mind that their trolleys then block everyone else, is absolutely incredible.
When I go grocery shopping with my wife, we make two lists, one for the fruit and veggie sections, another for everything else. We each grab a cart....I go grab 80% of items, and then go find her......in the veggie section
I grab the stuff from her cart, transfer it, and then go to checkout.
And someone to regulate that 10/15 items or under line. Annoying seeing people with full carts using it when me and others have to wait while carrying two or three items. Perhaps I’m just petty.
This is clearly not what that's about (they specifically talked about people acting like they're sightseeing, not being old or disabled), and there's nothing narcissistic about wanting things not to be needlessly inefficient, and it has nothing to do with privilege.
Old ladies who lean their cart to the right while standing next to it looking at something on the left like does spacial awareness deteriorate with age too?
There should be a time for “bring your spouse to the store day” so I know when to avoid it. Aimlessly wandering down the middle of the aisle stopping randomly just to look around. Argh!
Or…everyone could relax a bit and we’d see barely any effect on time lost, but we’d all feel a bit better. (Kinda like rushing to pass someone to drive up and wait at the red light ahead)
I didn’t say it was rude not to be in a rush, tho.
I said it was rude to take up space, with the strong implication of taking up space not actually accomplishing the task, which is what OP was talking about.
Being slow isn’t a problem.
Being in the way because you’re fuckin around is.
D’you think if I were in front, calmly taking my sweet time, maybe not getting upset when my card didn’t work and just trying again; folks wouldn’t think I was ‘not actually accomplishing the task’?
You could get rating points attached to your store rewards card, if AI video analysis of your ordering/checkout/etc meet standards you get special access. Dystopian yes, but it would have perks that would greatly enjoy. Maybe add in a TSA de-check where you go to a special slow security line
This! I’m in NYC. We don’t have baggers and no one has any patience. You better get your shit on the belt and bagged up in under a minute or you’re going to hear about it. Ain’t nobody got time for that at Western Beef.
OMG. Yes. I am known for being just a fast walker in general and an organized grocery shopper who just wants to GET IT DONE. I love good food, but I want to spend time cooking it, not shopping for it. Those people who just sort of wander and then abandon carts in the middle of the aisle… oy.
As someone who works at a grocery store, I support this fully. I assume everyone knows nothing until I am proven otherwise. Sometimes people get offended, but the next customer immediately confirms my choice to make such an assumption.
"Hey, why am I not allowed in THAT line?"
"Did you enjoy the sampler of smoked salmon on a mini rye toast?"
"Oh yes, it was delicious--"
"I'm afraid it's there to sort out sightseers."
I heard it was to allow his right hand to be free to draw his sword. Otherwise it would have to be "roadside" to protect the lady from splashes, depending which side of the road you were walking.
Comments
shop like a boss.
Highway accidents.
Car breakdowns.
Waking up late.
Friend in trouble.
Child injured.
There are a million un-plannable reasons to go fast, and none to hold people up when there are other places to go slow.
There is no good argument for being in the way.
It’s not about being important, it’s about /there is no reason to slow people down without cause/.
* The "let me get out my check book and write you a check" lane
* The "I'm going to use cash and the spare change I can find" lane
* The "aimless smalltalk" lane
* The "I'm going to have such a complicated transaction the manager will be required" lane
The "I forgot something, let me go back and finish my shopping" lane
I’m very much in the errand runner category… but I’ve seen the elderly in particular just wanting social connection and a chat. I don’t begrudge them that, but our priorities are wildly different and incompatible.
This isn't a theoretical solution, I've experienced it.
but unless they did something horribly wrong, multiple lines _couldn't_ have been any faster
if you have one line and few registers it'll take long, but lots of people and few registers _will_ take long.
You wanna check out at the green register? You better work on your proficiency score.
I just stepped to the side to watch the collisions and near-misses. It was better than a Marx Brothers’ routine. Lots of clever, colorful curses I’d never heard before.
Hubs will never learn unless he one day ends up in the ER. 🤭
i don’t actually make music, i just thought it was a great album title to express my frustration with these people
Encountered a person who didn’t understand how the checkout lanes at Trader Joe’s worked. She was crowding the card swiper with the cart in the way and had no idea the checker scans her stuff. Her excuse was she’s Canadian.
I grab the stuff from her cart, transfer it, and then go to checkout.
Move it along! Let's GO!
🛒
Relax at home. Taking up shared space being a dipshit is rude and selfish.
Thinking it’s rude not to be in a rush, though, can’t say I share that view.
I didn’t say it was rude not to be in a rush, tho.
I said it was rude to take up space, with the strong implication of taking up space not actually accomplishing the task, which is what OP was talking about.
Being slow isn’t a problem.
Being in the way because you’re fuckin around is.
"Did you enjoy the sampler of smoked salmon on a mini rye toast?"
"Oh yes, it was delicious--"
"I'm afraid it's there to sort out sightseers."