Choosing Smart Queuing Fast!

apostel-atarah (25)in #blog • 6 years ago (edited)

I hate waiting in a supermarket. Mutual feeling? Need I say more?

When you’re in a queue in the supermarket, especially on salary week, you sometimes wish you were some kind of “ambulance” to move straight past the queue and confidently slam the counter with your groceries.

While this is impossible, the only option one could turn to is looking for a place with a faster moving queue. What smart ways can you figure to avoid getting into a queue that’s moving slower than a morning traffic?

Sometimes you aren’t really buying anything, like myself today, you just went into the supermarket and a little box of tea-leaf is all you got. Or you just needed some tissue rolls but now you’re caught up in a 20minutes queue while nature is calling!
Deep inside you feel your colons choking but outside there you are.......

Is there something you can do about it? Increase your patience? No! Why not increase your ability to choose (or predict) the faster queue in the supermarket? I have been observing for sime time and realised that there are a few things you can consider before choosing a queue wisely:

Know the demographics of your queue! If it comprises mostly young people , then likely they have little to buy and they don’t have companions who are still outside the line trying to get more stuff. Those wearing uniform indicate that they’re just stopping by the market before going to (or from) work or school. They never really intended to stop by the market, so likely they’re in a hurry too.
Check the cashier, you can easily tell of their speed by their movements. This a good thing to check as sometimes the queue is just unnecessarily long. Perhaps a new employee? However, I usually don’t consider this that much, epecially if the cashier is pretty pretty. I become automatically patient. Like a monk.
Mhmm. You see what I’m saying? Anyway
Now this 3rd one requires a lot of intuition, especially if the market in your country doesn’t have a seperate credit card lane. The customers who use credit cards on the counter will take thrice the time unlike those who pay cash! (That is at least in the coutries I’ve lived in). Credit card means that right after swipping there has to be a confirmation from the bank if you’re credit worthy or not. Then a response will come quickly through the server (that is if the network is strong) AND THEN you have to sign a receipt and put your contact details.
You got to look at the people in your lane and guess who isn’t the credit card type of person. Make the best of your God given intuition.
Take a look at what kind of queue your in. Some shorter lanes are short because they are priority lanes while others are for payment options, example are those labeled ‘lame’, ‘senior citizens’ or ‘courtesy lane’, ‘credit card holders’, ‘buskets only’, etcetera. The worst thing that could happen is if your caught on the wrong lane, something you didn’t notice, and your asked to move after spending some time there already.
This should be an obvious one, Do not only look at the number of people in the line but consider the amount of stuff you see in their trollies too! Better to be in a long line with most customers using little buskets that be in a shorter one with 10 people using filled up trollies.
Be smart with your timing. Don’t go shopping in the evenings when people have been released from their work or schooling. They all want to drop by before getting home! These are basically peak hours. Also, try your best to go shopping in the 2nd or 3nd week of the month when few people still have the money to go shopping.
Finally! When you have no option, just stuck in a supermarket with all lanes full of queues and trollies, this is probably the best time to go online and read an interesting article. Or continue watching your film from where you last paused. I often open my med-school pdfs and start rereading stuff. When the mind is fully engaged in something, it becomes almost unaware of its immediate surrounding. You forget that you are in a lifetime queue and before you know it, your next on the counter. Good luck!