# Is this the same as cutting in line? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 25, 2017, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-as-cutting-in-line/785193 "2017-04-25T07:32:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-as-cutting-in-line/785193/81 "2017-04-26T13:30:38Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > How the fuck should I know? I’ve never been there. I was going off of the description of the place from the guy who posted about it. Ok, ok, no need to get hostile about it. I’ve just never seen a place where you weren’t allowed to get your table until AFTER everyone has ordered. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-as-cutting-in-line/785193/82 "2017-04-26T13:31:40Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Southern Maryland isn’t exactly your singles hotspot. Don’t hate on the 'Dorf! If you have a car with one primed door, you are a dating God! ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-as-cutting-in-line/785193/83 "2017-04-26T13:57:56Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > As a thought experiment: the woman stands in line wearing a large sandwich board sign that says, “I WILL HAVE A FULL SHOPPING CART AT THE REGISTER.” > > Now everyone who looks at that line is apprised of the true time her place in line will take at the register. > > What’s another objection? What happens if the full cart doesn’t show up when she gets to the front of the line? And how is that cart supposed to get past the line of people and their carts? It’s not how it’s done, you don’t get to reserve a place in a checkout line for an undetermined amount of time and goods to purchase. You and your liberal ideas about grocery store checkouting is what’s wrong with this country 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-as-cutting-in-line/785193/84 "2017-04-26T13:58:26Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Have any Brits weighed in yet? If I trust anyone’s opinion on queueing etiquette, it’s them. 🙂 I’m British, and if I saw this, I’d certainly shake my head, and would probably also tut. Maybe even loud enough for them to here. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-as-cutting-in-line/785193/85 "2017-04-26T14:34:29Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > They almost always try to wave the shopper immediately behind them ahead, to preserve their place at the “on deck,” spot. > > I wonder if this is more common in suburban supermarkets with family neighborhoods vs supermarkets that serve younger/more single shoppers. > [@pulykamell](#): > > My supermarket is almost all families. So that’s not it. > [@RTFirefly](#): > > Southern Maryland isn’t exactly your singles hotspot. > > Maybe it’s that there are a lot of upwardly mobile strivers in NoVa who think their time is more valuable than everyone else’s. My grocery store is in suburban Dallas, and, again, I never see this. On the other hand, the lines are also rarely crazy long, and when they are, it is just for a little while–they open up another register pretty quickly. If lines were more often half an hour or something, I guess this might be more common. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-as-cutting-in-line/785193/86 "2017-04-26T14:51:07Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > I’m British, and if I saw this, I’d certainly shake my head, and would probably also tut. Maybe even loud enough for them to here. NO! Not THE TUT! 😃 You Brits and your tutting! 😉 Anyone up for a thread about the parking lot? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-as-cutting-in-line/785193/87 "2017-04-26T14:59:10Z")
The thing that amazes me about lines are the people who think that are the only one who knows how to use them, and want to tell you to move up a step, like you have never used a line before. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-as-cutting-in-line/785193/88 "2017-04-26T15:07:52Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > The thing that amazes me about lines are the people who think that are the only one who knows how to use them, and want to tell you to move up a step, like you have never used a line before. No idea what you’re talking about. People tell you to move up in line? ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-as-cutting-in-line/785193/89 "2017-04-26T15:14:36Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > No idea what you’re talking about. People tell you to move up in line? Yes, I’ve seen this at the airport as well. For instance, there are 3 people in line in front of you. Then the line ahead of you moves up one person, now leaving 2 people in front of you. If you don’t immediately move up a step to stay directly behind the other people waiting, people behind may ask you to move up. For no reason. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-as-cutting-in-line/785193/90 "2017-04-26T16:08:43Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > I’m British, and if I saw this, I’d certainly shake my head, and would probably also tut. Maybe even loud enough for them to here. Agreed. I might possibly even make brief eye contact with someone else in the queue, a stranger maybe, and share a silent bonding moment of disapproval. Of course, the lady with the two items which transmute into two full trolleys would warrant a barely audible “The cheek of some people!”, and a grade 4 shake of the head. That’s only one step below composing a letter to the local paper (two steps below actually sending it). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-as-cutting-in-line/785193/91 "2017-04-26T16:18:44Z")
Hotblooded, impetuous responses like this are why you people won the Battle of Britain. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-as-cutting-in-line/785193/92 "2017-04-26T16:52:58Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Yes, I’ve seen this at the airport as well. > > For instance, there are 3 people in line in front of you. Then the line ahead of you moves up one person, now leaving 2 people in front of you. If you don’t immediately move up a step to stay directly behind the other people waiting, people behind may ask you to move up. For no reason. I can’t say I’ve experienced that here, but god help you sometimes if you don’t synchronize your gas pedal _exactly_ with the turn arrow or green light at an intersection. And I’m not talking about dawdling on your cell phone at the light and taking several seconds to react. I mean, almost literally, there’s the occasional asshole who beeps the instant the light turns. ---
**Author:** ![Krouget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b38774/32.png) [@Krouget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krouget)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-as-cutting-in-line/785193/93 "2017-04-27T13:20:46Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Yes, if I’d chosen the line based on the paucity of items this person seems to have, then I’m out five minutes I expected to save. Oh dear! :eek: If five minutes isn’t critical, the duo should have no problem standing in line like everyone else. This logic floats both ways. > [@Aspidistra](#): > > Actually, it doesn’t have any real advantage _now_. If it takes 30 minutes to shop, and 10 minutes to stand in line, then it takes 40 minutes to shop, and the only question is, is it going to be 40 minutes of one person’s effort, or 40 minutes spread over two people. It does (in theory) cut down on time, because the 10 minutes of waiting takes place _during_ the 30 minutes of shopping-- not _after_ the 30 minutes of shopping. It’s multitasking within a 30 minute time-frame. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-as-cutting-in-line/785193/94 "2017-04-27T14:47:13Z")
This is an example of the trouble that comes from having unwritten norms of social behavior - it would be better if we wrote down some rules, like these people: [Waiting For Kindergarten. I slept outside for 16 days to enroll… | by Gerard Sychay | Medium](https://medium.com/@hellogerard/waiting-for-kindergarten-62a14d4f1ce5) But seriously, three things: 1. a good but not sufficient test of an ethical rule is “is it universalizable?” If everyone staked out spots in line, it seems to me that there wouldn’t be any time saved for any shopping teams. (I think.) I tentatively suggest that this is an indication that this behavior only benefits people when no one else does it, similar to line-cutting. 2. I used to do a good amount of retail cashiering; it always struck me as weird that “waiting in line” is a norm that is enforced much more by other customers than by employees (at most stores). The strongest enforcement action I ever took as an employee was pointing and saying something like “I’m sorry, there’s a line over there.” For the people (usually whackos of some sort) who persisted, they got away with it, and the worst punishment they got was dirty looks and curt service. One of the many problems with a strong “customer is always right” ethos. 3. I recall reading that it’s usually an optimum strategy to choose your supermarket line by counting customers, not worrying about the number of items in each person’s cart. The theory is that a transaction has fixed time components (e.g. payment) that dwarf the ringing-up part. I have no cite and it sounds iffy, although it’s probably a psychologically healthy way to approach a difficult decision. My personal strategy is to try to spot whackos who will ask for something weird, want to chit-chat, and/or have trouble paying. It doesn’t work that well. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-as-cutting-in-line/785193/95 "2017-04-27T14:48:21Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Actually, it doesn’t have any real advantage _now_. If it takes 30 minutes to shop, and 10 minutes to stand in line, then it takes 40 minutes to shop, and the only question is, is it going to be 40 minutes of one person’s effort, or 40 minutes spread over two people. And standing in line is not the most efficient way of helping your friend/partner/parent shop - splitting the shopping is. But if you plan it perfectly, you can send someone into line at the exact right moment to minimize your trip time. For example - 30 minutes to shop, 10 minute line: 2 people each shop for 15 minutes, then wait together in line for 10 minutes - 25 minutes total. 2 people shop together for 10 minutes, completing 2/3 of the shopping. One person then gets in line, while the other continues shopping. In 10 minutes, the shopper has completed the final 1/3 of the shopping, and the waiter is at the front of the line, for a total of 20 minutes, 5 minutes better than the first method. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-as-cutting-in-line/785193/96 "2017-04-27T15:17:26Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Yes, I’ve seen this at the airport as well. > > For instance, there are 3 people in line in front of you. Then the line ahead of you moves up one person, now leaving 2 people in front of you. If you don’t immediately move up a step to stay directly behind the other people waiting, people behind may ask you to move up. For no reason. Reason #1: I’m blocking the path of the people still shopping and if you’ll move up a bit, then I won’t get hip checked by another cart. AGAIN. Reason #2: You are trying to leave so much space between you and the next shopper that it looks like we’re not in line. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-as-cutting-in-line/785193/97 "2017-04-27T15:19:37Z")
Put me in the “it’s definitely cutting in line” group. A decision was made by the people in the line based on what the people had in their carts ahead of them. Here’s how I look at it. As a shopper you have to choose a check out line based upon the people in the line in front of you. If you pick a line where everyone only seems to have one or two items; and then someone comes in to join their partner with a cart full of 100 items; then you were deceptive because it had an effect on everyone behind you. Conversely if you were in the same line and a person joined their partner with a couple of extra items then it’s not causing an appreciable difference in your wait time so it’s acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-as-cutting-in-line/785193/98 "2017-04-27T15:23:41Z")
Oh, and speaking of unwritten social behavior… Try this the next time you’re at the grocery: Resist using the plastic divider when placing your items on the belt; just leave a discernible gap between your groceries and the previous shopper. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-as-cutting-in-line/785193/99 "2017-04-27T15:31:40Z")
> [@ticker](#): > > I think it is appalling behaviour I agree with this except for the ‘u’ in ‘behavior’. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-as-cutting-in-line/785193/100 "2017-04-27T15:57:27Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > Oh, and speaking of unwritten social behavior… Try this the next time you’re at the grocery: > Resist using the plastic divider when placing your items on the belt; just leave a discernible gap between your groceries and the previous shopper. 🙂 I see that happen fairly often. I’ve even done it when no divider is available. But I prefer there to be a divider. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-as-cutting-in-line/785193.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-the-same-as-cutting-in-line/785193.md?page=6)