Last night I got into a heated argument with my wife about the following situation:

You are entering an ice cream store with the goal of buying a gift card, and no ice cream. There is a line waiting to be served at the ice cream counter, which then proceeds to the cashier. The person making/serving the ice cream items is not the cashier. There is currently a gap of about 10 feet between the person currently at the cashier (who has obviously already received his ice cream) and the person currently ordering his ice cream.

In this situation, do you get in line behind customer E or do you get in line directly behind customer A and ahead of customer B?

Show your work.

Correct answer: After A.

Correct answer for spidercrab: After E.

Work: You are married.

Lol obviously after A, how is this even a thread amirite.

My view is that it's inappropriate to jump in front of customer B, for a couple of reasons.

First, it's likely that customer B's order is going to be complete before I'm done paying at the cashier. So my jumping in line is going to directly delay customer B, which I think is wrong because customer B was clearly there first.

Second, it's possible that one of customers C, D, and E might be in a similar position, where they are only interested in buying a gift card. Again, it would be clearly wrong to jump in front of someone similarly situated.

The counterargument is obviously that this is similar to ordering online from a place like Chipotle, where you bypass the burrito-making area and head directly to the cashier. I am fine with that process, and I think the difference is that there's an established protocol in place, where all Chipotle customers collectively understand how online ordering works. It says so right on their website:



What's crazy is that my wife, I think, inadvertently proved my point for me, because this particular ice cream shop was not the first place we went. (We were buying gift cards for our kids' swim team coaches fwiw.) We first went to a different ice cream shop, where my wife saw a HUGE line stretching outside of the building. Upon seeing said line, she said, "Oh we're definitely not going there." And that's when we went to the above-illustrated shop, where there was a line of only about 4 people.

But, as I realized when we were driving home, if she REALLY believed her own argument - that you can just jump directly to the cashier and bypass the ice cream line - then it wouldn't have mattered how long the line was at the first place because we wouldn't have waited in it. I was like, "BOOM, LAWYERED". But she remained unconvinced.

Was it obvious that the line was simply for the ice cream thing and did they have a similar segregated cashier?

The thing that surprised me the most was that you were wrong and the wife was right, that happens like never amirite?

The first place was similarly set up where the person making/scooping the ice cream was different from the cashier. Without going in, there was no way to know whether there was a gap between current ordering person and current paying person.

It was not surprising to me that I was right, but not recognized as such.

I expect this pole to be about 90%+ on one side.

you should have stayed at the first shop. Since there were more people lined up there, it's obv the better ice cream shop and would have been appreciated more.

You don't need to wait in an ice cream line to purchase a card. What do you think the ice cream barista is gonna say... "Um, unless you want ice cream you need to see the cashier for that".

10 feet? So like 3 steps? What kind of stupid set up is that?

How about let customer b pay for his treat and then hopping in after him so he gets to enjoy his treat without the requiring of ice cream gloves

Also sick life

The thing that surprised me most was the the WIFE was the one who wanted to go straight to the cashier.

Spidercrab, how would you feel if there was nobody at the cashier (no person A) or general vicinity, and person B and the ice cream line were 30 feet away?

What's strange about it? Here's a different kind of setup, but one I've seen elsewhere. There's about 10 feet between where you order and where you pay.



I think it still would have felt awkward to me, because now I'm just backing up the problem and applying it to customer C.

Yes, the larger the gap, the more likely I'd jump in. If I knew for a fact that I would have finished my transaction before customer B approached the cashier, I probably would have done it.

Yeah, I am getting the crap kicked out of me on this one.

spider,

I'm going to wait for you to post whatever the trick/twist/gotcha is wrt this situation, since there isn't even any question here if we just go by what you've written/drawn.

Unfortunately for me, there's no M. Night Shyamalan twist.

spider,

that is a pretty good mspaint, but what flavor is on the upper left?

Blue cotton candy

Spider,

It's very simple. There's a line to sample, pick, and order ice cream. Do you need to do any of those things? No? Then proceed to the next line.

ETA: it's very similar to a situation where there's more than one person helping people ordering ice cream. As soon as you have your ice cream, you proceed to the cashier. Let's say a person started in front of you and is sampling 18 flavors of ice cream with their six kids and then ordering six sundaes. You don't wait for them to be finished before heading to the cashier. You go ahead of them when you're ready to pay.

What if there's no dedicated cashier, and both employees serve ice cream and then ring it in themselves? Do you get in line, or wait at the register and purchase your GC from an employee after they finish a transaction and before they start making the next customer's ice cream?

Greg,

Wait at the register. You should do the same thing you'd do if, after you've ordered and paid, you need them to grab something for you from behind the counter like an extra cup or lid or something.

It seems to me the only reason you'd create a gap that large is to accommodate people like gift card buyers.

This picture is of one line at one counter (I would still jump ahead here if the next customer was ordering). Your diagram shows two counters that are too close together to clearly show two lines, but it's still two and you only need to get into the one you need.

Spider,

How much of a gift card did each coach get?