Was ready to check out a few groceries at busy Whole Foods and noticed some shoppers with way more than the limit in the quick checkout line. What’s up with that? Are they better than me? Annoying…
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Yes
And they are probably also inconsiderate drivers, owning BMWs. (if UK experience applies on the western side of the Atlantic)
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It’s Whole Foods. Of COURSE they’re better than you! 
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If its one or two over, I have no issues but if its 20+ I say something…never goes well, but I feel better.
The checkout person, always thanks me, when there gone…
Just like when I see someone on their phone during checkout and they are brash and a ass to all, when checking out…love calling out those tools, is my fave!
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Haha John. I have that thing about BMW owners too. They’re just as narcissistic & self-entitled as the people with all the items in the 15 or less line.
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I’ll skip those 10 item checkout lines . To many transactions . It’s faster to have a checker go through one basket with 30 items , than have three separate 10 items in a basket .
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It needs to be egregious for me to say anything. E.g., a six-pack is one. Four bunches of scallions in a bag is one. But 10 cans of tomatoes are always 10. Unless there’s no plausible argument that they’re somewhere south of 150% of the limit, I keep my poi hole shut.
I will occasionally confront the okole if it’s egregious, and if they give me any stinkeye, I immediately ask the checker to summon the store manager. Invariably the checker stops, and then the fun begins…
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My problem is that the 10-item line in my supermarket is set up so that there is no bagging area–the cashier has to put the items directly into a bag after scanning, and my bags don’t work very well with this. The 20-item line has the same physical layout as the other lines.
Personally, I just pick a line that doesn’t look like the worst line. But, hey, I’m retired, and I have my handheld browser, so I’m not in a rush.
(What annoys me is that if someone buys a dozen cans of something, the supermarket computers don’t allow the cashier to enter “12” for the count, and then scan just one. When I buy two dozen cans of mushrooms on sale, it takes a l-o-n-g time.)
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It’s obnoxious yet widespread behavior. I’m always tempted to ask how it is they get by in life not being able to count to fifteen…
Ultimately i just roll my eyes and stand by the “what goes around comes around”- odds are in the not distant future said overfilled basket shopper will run in for two items and get stuck behind someone else who can’t count or follow simple rules.
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If it is just one or two items, then it is understandable. It is difficult to count accurately.
The other thing is that I have seen the cashiers are the ones who urge consumers with more than X items to check out. The reason is that the “less than X items” is completely empty, so the cashiers told me to switch over to their lines even though I was already waiting in a different line.
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Yea , you have to take a quick look at the spectrum . People in line , Checker ; is there a bagger with them . Items people have . Then pick your line . I make a game out of it .
Oh and the chatty checkers , trader Joes . I do most of my shopping at our local grocer . 4 checkout stands . All the checkers have a bagger . If a checker needs a bagger another checker will bag if not doing anything . No bar codes to fumble . Those girls know the price on everything . They rotate from stocking the shelves and pricing the items to checkout . It’s a good system . I have not seen faster and more precise grocery checkout .
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Hmmmm - We own a BMW X3 SUV and we are not inconsiderate, and would never go on an express line with too many items and I return my carts. Sorry - had to chime in. Now, Mercedes owners… and forget the Hummers.
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Not better than you, but more “important” than you.
I feel 10 items really isn’t even a good cut off. That short line is always 5 people with 1-3 things, and then one person who is at the limit or slightly over, or one person who totally ignores that it’s the express line. If they really want to expedite, it should be a 5 item limit with no alcohol, cigarettes, or meds that require ID checking. And for that matter, no coupons. In fact, it should just be for people who want to browse the supermarket and leave without buying anything.
In all seriousness, I love self-checkout. I wish more stores offered it, and this is exactly what it’s designed for - those of us who loathe waiting in lines.
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I always opt for self checkout whenever possible.
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I worked the express checkout line as a cashier for a year or so, and the “10 items or less” rule was broken by one out of every 20 people or so, easily. But in general, it wasn’t a big deal; it’s meant as a ‘keep things quick’ guideline … scanning an extra two items takes, what, a few seconds? I’d occasionally tell people with a cartload of things to go elsewhere before they piled their stuff on the conveyor belt, though.
The thing was, the number of items didn’t really control speed. What slowed things down was people using food stamps, people buying items for tax-free organizations that needed to fill out extra paperwork, or especially people who wrote checks… back then the cashier had to write your birthdate, drivers’ license number, and social security number on every check, for some reason.
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may I ask? what do you make with canned mushrooms?
I have one recipe that uses them, a pizza spread, and I always get laughed at 
BMW AND SUV? Double whammy! 
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Nope Aloha - the rules are the rules. “One or two over” is more than ten. Ten is the rule. Feeling entitled? That just is not okay. Take 12 items through the 10 or less express lane and your car idling in the no-parking lane? Just not okay. Karma will catch up.
My Kroger has modified its quick checkout to “about 15 items”. That now means up to 45! 
