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It seems obvious. You arrive at the checkouts and see one queue is much longer than the other, so you join the shorter one. But, before long, the people in the bigger line zoom past you and you've barely moved towards the exit.
When it comes to queuing, the intuitive choice is often not the fastest one. Why do queues feel like they slow down as soon as you join them? And is there a way to decide beforehand which line is really the best one to join? Mathematicians have been studying these questions for years. So can they help us spend less time waiting in line?
The intuitive strategy seems to be to join the shortest queue. After all, a short queue could indicate it has an efficient server, and a long queue could imply it has an inexperienced server or customers who need a lot of time. But generally this isn't true.
[...] Once you're in the queue, you'll want to know whether you made the right choice. For example, is your server the fastest? It is easy to observe the actual queue length and you can try to compare it to the average. This is directly related to the mean and standard deviation of the service time via something called the Pollaczek-Khinchine formula, first established in 1930. This also uses the mean inter-arrival time between customers.
Unfortunately, if you try to measure the time the first person in the queue takes to get served, you'll likely end up feeling like you chose the wrong line. This is known as Feller's paradox or the inspection paradox. Technically, this isn't an actual logical paradox but it does go against our intuition. If you start measuring the time between customers when you join a queue, it is more likely that the first customer you see will take longer than average to be served. This will make you feel like you were unlucky and chose the wrong queue.
So, before you choose a queue to join, put the screaming kids down and carefully note the average serving time in each queue, measure the queue length, and then project which will get you through to a completed transaction quickest.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by edIII on Monday May 08 2017, @10:39PM (2 children)
Life is too fucking short to be queued up just to make some rich fucker in the Owning Class a little bit richer.
The easiest solution is to drop your shit on the floor, put it on a shelf, and just fucking leave the store. If it's clear that the store cannot get me out in less than 5 minutes, then the store does not get anything from my wallet. Period. I use the quick check-out stands in the first place, and then I choose non peak times to do any grocery shopping that I need.
If I really want the groceries, I'm not averse to sitting in the coffee shop reading, while my cold stuff is shoved in the nearest freezer. I'll wait for the line to free up.
What I never do? Wait in those fucking lines. They only exist because of the rich fucking cunts getting richer off us. It's not like I refuse to be in line, I just refuse to be in A line when there are in fact TWENTY fucking lines, but 2 fucking employees. So if those rich fucking hell bound cunts want any of my money, they can be stop being so fucking avaricious and hire another 2-3 fucking employees which would speed up the line greatly.
Seriously? Do not most people realize they got a second job handed to them waiting in fucking line because the rich cannot be bothered to pay what is required to eliminate, or at least greatly mitigate, the lines? It's because they want to be richer by not paying an American a living wage to do the work. So who does the work instead? That's right! You DO :)
Excessive queuing is just one more way that the average citizen is being fucked by the rich. So fuck them right back. Stop buying their shit, and fuck over their queues.
Lastly, you know what you find in small mom and pop shops most of the time? Smaller queues. Shop local. Shop small. Win-Win-Win.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 09 2017, @12:16AM
I no longer queue up at the grocery store because I no longer shop at grocery stores. I've got a subscription to Soylent Gold now. Soylent Gold is delivered right to my door. It's easy to prepare, it needs no cooking and no refrigeration until it's prepared, it has a flavour to it, and it contains real gold. It's everything I want from a nutrient preparation, and best of all, it's made from rich people. The owner of the company really put his heart into it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 09 2017, @06:26PM
Keeping people waiting in line means also more compulsive last minute shopping.