I’m thinking of airport check-in lines now. I think what drives me more crazy than the actual time I am wasting (after all, checking in quickly doesn’t make the plane take of any sooner) is seeing the line next to mine going faster than mine, begetting the stressful question of whether to jump to another line or not. Then of course, if you do jump, your original line starts moving faster, right? I don’t know if others feel this way, but it drives me CRAZY. I will just be standing in line and STEWING.
What I have noticed that works, though, is those airlines that use an amusement park-style corral system, where everyone joins a single line with Tensa-barriers and are then shepherded to one of several check-in desks when they reach the front. I don’t know if this actually reduces the average wait, but it eliminates the whole “To Jump or Not to Jump” dilemma and the psychological angst that goes with it. Anyone else feel the way I do? The same goes for grocery store lines too.
It emiliated the jump impulse but I would say is slightly less efficent as it takes time for the person to walk over to the open window. You also get the clueless person who is standing in pole position while the cashere (or whoever) keeps shouting ’ Miss I’m open, Over hear’. It takes the 2nd in line to either point it out to her or go around her.
Grocery store checkout lines are a great place to practice your patience (which is a learnable skill, BTW). Remember that the odds are against you (by blind luck, the line to your left or the line to your right will be faster than your line 2 out of 3 times), and that it’s something you have no control over, so it’s not worth worrying about.
And then there are the times that, for whatever reason, I’m perfectly happy to just stand and wait, and kind of zone out, and there’s no one behind me, and then another cashier opens another line and INSISTS that I come over to her line.
Why doesn’t that happen when I’m in a hurry and have some goober in front of me holding up the line, and my head is about to explode?? Some days you just can’t win.
No way. I LOVE single feeder lines. I hate McDonald’s method, because you can get stuck behind that person who looks alone, but is ordering for a van full of people. If you’re in a feeder line, you’re the next person for the the next available cashier, instead of being stuck.
