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posted by martyb on Sunday September 18 2016, @04:56PM   Printer-friendly
from the slowest-line-is-the-one-I'm-in dept.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reports on a former math teacher who claims to solved the question "Which checkout line up will be fastest?"

In a nutshell he has concluded that the number of people in the lineup is more important than the number of items a person has in their cart.

The critical factor, he says, is the average of 41 seconds that it takes a shopper to pay the cashier and engage in idle chit chat.

So a long line of people in the Express line, with two or three items each, will actual move slower than the checkout with one guy with a full shopping cart.

YMMV.


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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by davester666 on Sunday September 18 2016, @06:45PM

    by davester666 (155) on Sunday September 18 2016, @06:45PM (#403478)

    You also have to evaluate the people in line. Is there an old lady with a large purse who is more likely to be a coupon clipper, but have to spend several minutes finding all the coupons (and thank goodness we're past the "How much is it again, I'm paying by check")? Mother with 3 infants all running in different directions? Person on phone more interested in the conversation than buying the groceries?

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