Express Line Etiquette

Quote: boymimbo

3. I agree that women, in generally, are quite slow in getting their payment ready.

They're slower in everything they do actually. Driving, shopping, getting to the point of a story, orgasming, I could go on and on....

Quote: zippyboy

They're slower in everything they do actually. Driving, shopping, getting to the point of a story, orgasming, I could go on and on....

This is true. Maybe that's why they do so many things
better than us. Better at cleaning, better with kids,
better at teaching, nursing, yard work. Men make better
cops, firefighters, soldiers, business execs. Women are
good at details, men hate details. We don't like to read
directions or ask for them. Why clean every day when
it takes the same amount of time to do it once a week.

Women do drive me nuts though.

Quote: Evenbob

Quote: zippyboy

They're slower in everything they do actually. Driving, shopping, getting to the point of a story, orgasming, I could go on and on....

This is true. Maybe that's why they do so many things
better than us. Better at cleaning, better with kids,
better at teaching, nursing, yard work. Men make better
cops, firefighters, soldiers, business execs. Women are
good at details, men hate details. We don't like to read
directions or ask for them. Why clean every day when
it takes the same amount of time to do it once a week.

Women like predictability while disliking disruption. Men like figuring things out don't mind an adventure. Lets take the "men won't ask for directions" meme. Pre-GPS you had to figure out how to get somewhere. You had to learn your way around town. I always said and still say the best way to learn a new town is to get lost a few times. When you do you will learn landmarks and remember how you found your way back. Even if you will never be to that town again you build skill in finding your way. And deep down, most men on some level tell themselves, "If Christopher Columbus didn't need to ask directions when he discovered America I'll be damned if I need to ask to find this simple place!" Women want to say they got to where they were going, men want to say "I figured out how to get to where I was going."

Curiously, despite women getting upset that men will not ask for directions, women are horrible at giving a lost guy directions. When I need to stop to ask directions I prefer to ask a male vs a female. Once even with GPS I could not find this medical place. It was the kind of address where it used the main road but there were a few "pad" places in front of it obscuring it. I asked a woman in a fast food place if she knew where it was. Not only did she not know, she never heard of it. Now this was a smaller town and it was a big place, the kind of situation where most people in town know. Well, it was *right behind her building!*

Back to the express line so as not to totally go off topic, there is an episode of "The Simpsons" where Apu loses his store or something and is with Marge at a huge supermarket. Marge wants to use the express line but Apu says express is not always fastest, and says the next line over is all men with no coupons or checks.

The next line over has perhaps 20 people while express has 4-5. But the "guys line" marches right thru the checkout like the Prussian Army, all 20 checked out before the express line even moves.

So true.

Quote: Wizard

I would just get angry at myself for not having the confidence to talk to her.

That is okay, just turn and smile at her. Nowadays, she is likely to take the initiative and talk to you. At least it keeps your mind off the minor irritation and minor delay.

The major reason for delays at checkout are these darn couponers, the welfare/Aid to Children cards, etc. So feel free to just turn to the sweet young thing behind you and say "This is why I hate shopping for just one item"

Quote: Wizard

You're in the Supermarket and need to buy just one thing and intend to pay in cash. The shortest line is the express line, which clearly has a "10 items or less" rule. There are three people in line, the first two complying with the rule. The person at the end of this line has about 15 items. What do you do?

I think item number is sort of arbitrary. The only thing that matters is "express".

If some dude has 40 items, but the items make for quick scanning (say he has quadruples of things), it doesn't even register as a problem. But if someone only has 5 items and it's bananas (which they didn't weight and bag, leaving it the the cashier), has a wad of coupons (which they never sorted to have ready upon request), is paying by check (which they haven't prefilled and further require borrowing a pen to do so), that's much more a hindrance and violates the spirit of the express line.

I can't really remember the last time I was irritated in line, though (outside of Xmas season). I am the ultimate guy shopper; I know exactly what I need, where to get it, and the path that's most efficient to get it all. And when I browse, like when I need a lot of groceries and need to hit every aisle, I have a rule that I must maintain a steady walking pace. I don't slow or stop to grab my items, unless it's something for which I need two hands. I figure if I miss something, then I didn't need it that badly. I can do a full grocery shopping trip including check out in under 30 minutes.

I have a different complaint about the express line. The express line should be 10 items. Always. And yet at the Safeway nearest me it's 15 items. Same with Trader Joe's: 15 items. This defeats the purpose of an express line. I've seen some stores with a 20 item limit. Ridiculous.

Quote: reno

. Same with Trader Joe's: 15 items.

Trader Joe's is often a yuppie Mingle and Meet type place so long lines is not quite such an ordeal there with the singles all discussing various olives and cheeses and wines. Even the Haagen Daz ice cream pints have a rack of sets of two spoons nearby rather than a bunch of single spoons. Stores like that expect lengthy browsing and longer lines.

Express is often in name only particularly when some grocery stores man the express line with their slowest clerks and inefficient baggers. Its like dubbing the parking lot an "express" parking lot. Its about as express as that one car that is holding everyone up.

Of course if this is a concern then you probably have very few problems in life so feel free to pass the time on line by calculating place bet press moves or reciting the names and colors of high value chips.

Quote: Face

. I can do a full grocery shopping trip including check out in under 30 minutes.

Women are slow because of the left brain/right
brain thing. They don't make decisions well,
even small ones, like in shopping. They say
there are more men CEO's because women
can't make decisions alone, they rule by committee.
They need the permission of others before
they decide something.

Occasionally have the opposite problem at local grocery store. Six self-checkout lines, one is Express, 12 items I believe. Busy Saturdays, so people with just a few items clog up the regular self-check lines rather than using express. Totally defeats the purpose.

Most women I know are excellent at making decisions or at the very least do it quite competently.

Its simply that women consider shopping to be "an experience" that is shared and discussed, whereas men consider shopping a chore or an errand to be accomplished and don't particularly want to hear comments about green beans or the like. A man wants to get the task done while a woman wants to experience the event and talk about it.

It is perhaps the difference between paper plates and fine china. Each is suitable but women tend to prefer the more formal and social setting.