# I pit the people at drive-up ATMs who... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 7, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-people-at-drive-up-atms-who/680714 "2014-02-07T01:43:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-people-at-drive-up-atms-who/680714/21 "2014-02-07T14:57:35Z")
At grocery stores here you can generally swipe your card at any time during the transaction. That’s not true for other retail settings. ---
**Author:** ![PacifistPorcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PacifistPorcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PacifistPorcupine)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-people-at-drive-up-atms-who/680714/22 "2014-02-07T14:58:43Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > You joke but the new thing in ATMs is basically skype calls to tellers. In a few years, you could very well be trying to get 20 bucks for a cab at 3 in the morning and the yokel in front of you could be trying to set up a car loan application. “ATM that skype calls to tellers?” I’ll let the branding people know the suck ass. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-people-at-drive-up-atms-who/680714/23 "2014-02-07T14:59:45Z")
I agree pretty much across the board. ATMs: pull forward (there’s almost always a space for this, often without even going out of your way) to shuffle and sort and put things away. Gas pumps: same fuggin’ thing; don’t make me wait a minute or two more while you slowly rearrange your car to drive away - pull forward to clear the pump. Grocery stores: GODDAMMIT, LADY, YOU DON’T NEED TO WAIT UNTIL THE TOTAL IS SHOWN TO ACT SURPRISED THAT YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO PAY. They’re just seconds and minutes, but they add up and I resent them being stolen by oblivious idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-people-at-drive-up-atms-who/680714/24 "2014-02-07T15:07:11Z")
Fully agree with the OP. Count your cash and move the fuck outta the way! Even counting the cash right then and there isn’t necessary since the machine won’t be able to correct an error. The host of the machine has to check the audit data anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-people-at-drive-up-atms-who/680714/25 "2014-02-07T15:11:24Z")
You forgot to mention they throw their still lit cigarette out right below the ATM. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-people-at-drive-up-atms-who/680714/26 "2014-02-07T15:17:25Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > At grocery stores here you can generally swipe your card at any time during the transaction. That’s not true for other retail settings. It’s 50-50 or higher. It tends to be small stores on a low-tier individual merchant-services provider that have limited integration of the checkout process. There is also an evident training/knowledge issue in some small stores - they don’t know how to enable the card reader early in the transaction, or haven’t been trained to do so. So they complete the sale while you wait, then wait while you do the card thing, wasting everyone’s time. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-people-at-drive-up-atms-who/680714/27 "2014-02-07T15:22:27Z")
Here’s how the process works here: 1. Wait for total transaction amount. 2. Indicate whether you will be paying by i) cash, ii) credit, or iii) debit. 3. Insert applicable chip-and-pin card. 4. Confirm amount “Yes/No.” - 1. Enter PIN 2. Wait for approval. 3. Remove card. Sometimes an option for “Do you want any cash back?” will appear here. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-people-at-drive-up-atms-who/680714/28 "2014-02-07T16:04:51Z")
Much as it works down here, but there’s no reason everything but confirmation of the final total can’t be done while the clerk is doing his/her thing. Even then, most grocery stores just give a verbal announcement of the total and when you nod, they’re the ones to send it for processing. Forcing the customer to wait until the clerk or checker is done is a waste of time. But the old ladies who wait for the total to even start fumbling with their purse… _grrrrrrr…_ and they are legion. Some may actually _be_ Legion. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-people-at-drive-up-atms-who/680714/29 "2014-02-07T16:39:20Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Here’s how the process works here: > > 1. Wait for total transaction amount. > 2. Indicate whether you will be paying by i) cash, ii) credit, or iii) debit. > 3. Insert applicable chip-and-pin card. > 4. Confirm amount “Yes/No.” > > - > > 1. Enter PIN > 2. Wait for approval. > 3. Remove card. > > Sometimes an option for “Do you want any cash back?” will appear here. That’s how card readers used to work around here when they first showed up a few years ago, but these days, step 1 is “Wait for the first item to be scanned.” Steps 2 through 6 can be done while they’re scanning the rest of the stuff you’re buying. There is no step 7, as the readers are all swipe models - they don’t hold on to your card. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-people-at-drive-up-atms-who/680714/30 "2014-02-07T17:24:18Z")
> [@Desert\_Dumpster](#): > > Yeah, common decency is _such_ a bitch. And if you’re more important than everyone else in the universe, why _shouldn’t_ they wait for you? > > (By the way, if you’ve never been in a hurry, and waiting in line behind someone who seems to be taking an inordinate amount of time to complete their business, I guess you “plan better” than the rest of us mortals, but I’m willing to bet that that’s not the case.) Try reading for comprehension. I said “wait their turn, like I did.” I don’t consider myself special in this regard. And while I wouldn’t say that I never get impatient waiting for other people, I have learned in the fullness of years not to sweat the small stuff, like waiting a minute or two longer than may seem necessary to me. It is not true that every single event in one’s life is of earth-shaking importance. If I have to wait a little longer, so what? If I can’t afford the time, I’ll come back another time. On the other hand, if I have left everything until the last minute and have to do 10 things in the time it normally takes to do 3 things, then I can see someone getting impatient. But that’s what I mean by planning better. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-people-at-drive-up-atms-who/680714/31 "2014-02-07T17:36:40Z")
I support this pitting. If there are people in line behind you, move forward. That’s whether you are at the ATM, grocery shopping, paying for gas, or buying fucking girl scout cookies. You don’t need to arrange everything at the counter, get out of the fucking way! ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-people-at-drive-up-atms-who/680714/32 "2014-02-07T20:17:48Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Much as it works down here, but there’s no reason everything but confirmation of the final total can’t be done while the clerk is doing his/her thing. Even then, most grocery stores just give a verbal announcement of the total and when you nod, they’re the ones to send it for processing. > > Forcing the customer to wait until the clerk or checker is done is a waste of time. B\*\*ut the old ladies who wait for the total to even start fumbling with their purse… \*\*_grrrrrrr…_ and they are legion. Some may actually _be_ Legion. …and then pull out a checkbook…GAH! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-people-at-drive-up-atms-who/680714/33 "2014-02-07T20:22:44Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > You joke Every chance I get. As an incidental, though, I find I rarely swipe my cards. Rather, my cards have chip technology (I understand this is relatively uncommon in the U.S.) so I insert them into the readers and enter a PIN. The magnetic strip (or the reader) has failed often enough that I don’t even bother trying to swipe any more. Of course, I have absentmindedly walked away without my card on at least one occasion, so it’s a trade-off. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-people-at-drive-up-atms-who/680714/34 "2014-02-07T20:48:02Z")
Stupid people aren’t just slow thinkers, they are slow doers. I think it’s because they can’t remember more than one step in a sequence at a time. Everything that happens to them is a little surprise: oh, I have to enter my PIN; oh, now it’s giving me money; oh, now I have to put that money away;… Their whole meaningless lives are one moment of mundane surprise after another. Get the fuck out of our way. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-people-at-drive-up-atms-who/680714/35 "2014-02-07T20:58:14Z")
Totally agree with the OP. Get the fuck out of the way! > [@madmonk28](#): > > Stupid people aren’t just slow thinkers, they are slow doers. > > Their whole meaningless lives are one moment of mundane surprise after another. Get the fuck out of our way. So true. So sad. 30-second transactions take 4 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-people-at-drive-up-atms-who/680714/36 "2014-02-07T21:27:47Z")
Wow. Just, I can’t begin to say how sad these last posts make me. Do you have no feelings other than “Me, Me, Get Out Of My Way!”? Grab a breath and smell the roses, for shit’s sake. There is a certain mindset illustrated by these posts that I just hate. Everybody else is in the way. Everybody else is too stupid to live. Everybody else just doesn’t get it. Look at me, I’m so smart, but everyone else is stupid. Are you completely unable to put yourself in another person’s position, without deciding that they are stupid and slow? Maybe one day someone will tell you to get the hell out of their way, and you will gain some small glimmer of understanding of how completely self-absorbed you are. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-people-at-drive-up-atms-who/680714/37 "2014-02-07T21:29:09Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Wow. Just, I can’t begin to say how sad these last posts make me. Do you have no feelings other than “Me, Me, Get Out Of My Way!”? Grab a breath and smell the roses, for shit’s sake. > > There is a certain mindset illustrated by these posts that I just hate. Everybody else is in the way. Everybody else is too stupid to live. Everybody else just doesn’t get it. Look at me, I’m so smart, but everyone else is stupid. > > Are you completely unable to put yourself in another person’s position, without deciding that they are stupid and slow? > > Maybe one day someone will tell you to get the hell out of their way, and you will gain some small glimmer of understanding of how completely self-absorbed you are. > Roddy Writing this post took two minutes of your life that you’ll never get back. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-people-at-drive-up-atms-who/680714/38 "2014-02-07T21:30:24Z")
Why can’t you put yourself in our positions and get the fuck out of our way? Why is your “stop and smell the roses” more relevant than my view that you should have some awareness of other people and not needlessly inconvenience them? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-people-at-drive-up-atms-who/680714/39 "2014-02-07T21:39:29Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Wow. Just, I can’t begin to say how sad these last posts make me. Do you have no feelings other than “Me, Me, Get Out Of My Way!”? Grab a breath and smell the roses, for shit’s sake. > > There is a certain mindset illustrated by these posts that I just hate. Everybody else is in the way. Everybody else is too stupid to live. Everybody else just doesn’t get it. Look at me, I’m so smart, but everyone else is stupid. > > Are you completely unable to put yourself in another person’s position, without deciding that they are stupid and slow? > > Maybe one day someone will tell you to get the hell out of their way, and you will gain some small glimmer of understanding of how completely self-absorbed you are. > Roddy I wanted to go smell the roses, but the four people in front of me in line took so long to figure out how to pay that I ran out of time. I don’t usually like to spend my leisure time waiting in my car at the ATM or in line at the supermarket. Your mileage varies, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-people-at-drive-up-atms-who/680714/40 "2014-02-07T21:42:16Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Wow. Just, I can’t begin to say how sad these last posts make me. Do you have no feelings other than “Me, Me, Get Out Of My Way!”? Grab a breath and smell the roses, for shit’s sake. Okay, you’re right. The next time I’m leaving a store and you’re behind me, I’m going to stop in the doorway and spend a good minute snuffing and stretching and enjoying the fresh air. You can wait, right? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-people-at-drive-up-atms-who/680714.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-people-at-drive-up-atms-who/680714.md?page=3)