I try to be efficient in everything I do. Always feeling like I don’t have enough time in a day, it’s important to me to finish whatever I start as quickly as possible. That includes going shopping. Generally, I like to enter a store, grab what I need, and get out within 10 minutes. However, I often find myself gritting my teeth, rolling my eyes, and wondering what the deal is with…

Slow People in Checkout Lines

When I approach the rows of checkout lines in a store, my eyes immediately focus, not on the amount of groceries or other items that the people in line have, but rather on the people themselves. Do they look like the kind of person that will easily pile all of their items on the counter, quickly swipe their credit card, and be done with their transaction in a matter of seconds?  Or do they look like the type of person who will fumble around their shopping cart, chat with the cashier about how their day is going, scold their kids for touching everything in sight, and ultimately pull the dreaded checkbook out to pay for their items? Unfortunately, the latter is more common than I’d like to believe.

It is the 21st century. We have credit cards. We have debit cards. We have the Internet. We have PayPal. Is there any reason to write a check in a store? EVER? If you have enough money in your bank account to write a check, why not get a debit card? It requires a simple swipe and, if you want, you can still write down the transaction in your ledger later AFTER you’ve left the line, allowing those behind you to continue. Moreover, if you can afford what you’re buying, why not get a rewards credit card and get some cash or points back for your purchases? You’ve got the money – just pay off the balance at the end of the month. It’s like getting things for free!

And even those who have debit or credit cards often don’t know how to use them. Here’s a quick lesson: If there’s a machine where you can swipe your card pointed at you, then swipe it! If there isn’t, then don’t wait for the total before getting your card out. Have it ready when the cashier asks for it. But if you can swipe it yourself, don’t wait for the last item to be scanned. Go ahead and swipe it after your FIRST item has been scanned. It will still work. Trust me. It’ll save you and everyone behind you time.

Then there are the people who enter the 10-items-or-less line with 15+ items and just pretend they don’t see the sign. “Oh I’ll just take my time, holding up everyone behind me with my shopping cart full of items even though everyone behind me has less than 3 things to buy. Too bad for them.” People who ignore the 10-item rule should be forced to pay 50% more on every item over 10.

Finally, there are those that take a shopping cart full of items up to the checkout counter and ask the cashier to price check every single item before they decide if they want it. Generally this results in 75% of the items being scanned, scanned again to remove it from the purchase list, and put away for a store employee to put back on a shelf. This also means that even though the person only ended up buying a can of peanuts, they had the cashier scan 10 different styles of potato chips just to see if any were on sale.

There are a number of other things people do to hold up lines but this post has gone on long enough. It hurts my head just thinking about it. I simply wonder why every time I reach the cashier, my entire transaction takes just a few seconds when other people take several minutes. The cashier starts scanning items, I swipe my card, the cashier finishes, bags the items, I grab my receipt, and I immediately walk away. So many other people seem to think that reaching a cashier means it’s social hour, completely ignoring the fact that they actually came to the store to buy something, not have a deep, meaningful conversation. How about just buying your stuff and then leaving? It simply drives me nuts.