Once again, there was no cart. Just two people, each with an armload (yes, an armload) of items.
And it did not affect me at all as they were behind me in line. I was just curious as to where others would see this falling on the Dickometer.
mmm
From the thread, I don’t think anyone thinks a few items is dickish, no different than grabbing a couple of items you forgot. Some (many?) people think a big cartload is dickish.
I don’t think an “armload” is a familiar measure of groceries to most people, but it sounds closer to a few than a cartload.
We each take one cart, and split. We get two cashiers, and clear around twice as fast. But wait, there’s more: She comes over to my line to pay on her credit card with her store card. Is that a dick move?
Splitting isn’t so long as you aren’t planning on wedging one of the half-full carts in front of somebody who’s been patiently waiting for their turn.
Now, does waiting on your wife to come over with her card ever hold up the line? If not, no foul. If it does? Yeah, kind of a jerk move. That would mean inconveniencing other people for the sake of your own convenience. That’s jerkish.
I’d say that depends on how long the line is. If fairly long (at least 2 in each line) then I don’t think you’d actually be saving time since you’re held to the speed of the slowest line, and plus slow everyone down trying to juggle credit cards.
If you had the choice of 2 empty lanes and you chose both then I’d say it was both efficient and a kind move since it saves everyone time. Somewhere in the middle, where you each had a full cart and were behind 1 person with a small load each, then I don’t think it would verge into full on dickishness since you don’t know if there will be people behind you once your turn is up, but the only peoples time you’re saving is your own.
People should not be in line unless they are ready. Anyone who leaves the line to get additional items should return to last in line. What happens when the cashier is ready (or a new cashier arrives and opens another aisle) but the person holding a spot in line isn’t ready? Is it OK to stand there claiming next in line while letting one at a time pass until the spouse shows up with groceries?
How about if I offer to pay a stranger who was loitering outside the store asking for money to reserve a spot in line for me?
So long as you don’t share the food and have two separate refrigerators at home, it seems fine.
I can only remember one time when I thought it was seriously dickish. The couple had two loaded carts. I was the affected cashier and the people resigned to being in line behind one loaded cart suddenly found they were behind two. One complained loudly. The others, being Minnesotans just gave them passive-aggressive stares and sighs as they then moved to the abandoned cashier’s line.
Perfectly reasonable, I have done this before, and it wouldn’t bother me to see others doing so. They wait, pay the social price to get to the front of the line, and abandon one of the two choices. The only real down side is the perceived slight caused by seeing more groceries appear in front of you.
I do try to avoid being egregious about it–no having my wife stand in line empty handed while I trundle up with two full cartloads.
Far more egregious is the person who hides the fact that they represent multiple transactions, such as when shopping for two or three others, or when their friends appear with their own purchases and own cash/cards.
Like others, I avoid this altogether by using self checkout, unless I have something odd like organic cage-free mangoes that will be hard to find on the machine at self checkout–better to let a pro handle that one.
FWIW I assumed you were asking about the general behavior and not the two specific people in your store in front of you.
I think it’s clearly dickish and am surprised some are defending it.
For those who think this is ok, would you also be ok with a sole shopper letting another cut in front of them in line? How about behind them? Would it change if it was a couple allowing the cuts to meet the ‘two people, two placeholders’ justification?
I often use reusable shopping bags instead of a cart or basket. They each hold about an armload.
Doing this is unquestionably a dick move. Those who are defending this are undoubtedly doing so because they practice this themselves while out shopping. Again, read all of the posts condemning this here & then think about this rationally, and you’ll see that you are definitely inconveniencing others by doing this.
Your latter example is no different than a chat ‘n’ cut for all intents and purposes.
Dick move, perhaps even warranting the “dick cough”.
This makes for a lead-in to something I do that may cause a certain amount of butt-chapping on the part of others.
The coffee kiosk I usually patronize has two drive-up windows - and a walk-up window. If the lines at the drive-ups are more than one person, I go to the walk-up. Which NEVER has a line. 
It’s not unusual to walk in, order, get my order, and walk out before the car line moves. Okay, so saluting the driver with my cup may be a dick move, :rolleyes: but they could have done the same thing.
Bonus: The baristas tend to be pleasant, female, eye candy, and dressed for comfort in a warm kiosk. 
OP checking in.
I dunno why the discourteous hover about me, but they do.
This morning I was pulling into a McDonald’s drive-through for my pre-work coffee (99 cents, dontcha know). A person in a vehicle that pulled in from the road behind me zoomed around and staked a claim in the line directly in front of me. Took vehicular cuts is what he did.
This thread seems an appropriate place to report this.
mmm
Dickish; it’s the equivalent of the person who, while driving, tries to move to the head of the line of stopped traffic and then force their way in, when everyone else read/understood the “Lane Closed Ahead” sign and moved into the appropriate lane in time.
I have seen an analysis that indicates that those folks actually reduce the net wait time, and that the better action is to remain in two lanes and merge at the “last moment”.
Be that as it may, it ticks me off, too. :mad:
Store cashier here. Definitely not cool, and borderline dickish. If they have four children, can the kids each wait on a different line? Can the shopping cart be left unattended in line while they do a little more shopping, or wait on another line? Or let the children wait on line and put up the items, and the cashier has to wait for the grown up to come back and pay for the items? I’ve seen all of these things, and I don’t like them.
The line is for people who are ready, willing and able to pay.
If everyone who went into the store in pairs did this move, the lines would actually be the same or more efficient. I tend to use the “if everyone did it” measure for whether something is problematic, and in this case “if everyone did it” things would be just fine.
(Personally, when I go to the store and get a large cartload, I pick a line then veg out.)