Line Hopping
It doesn’t matter where I’m shopping, I hate to line hop. Even if I am sure that I picked the slowest cashier in the store, I stay put, because line hopping has never paid off for me. Besides, why second-guess myself on something so trivial as the checkout lane I chose?
It’s so annoying. If you want an example of why I don’t line-hop, picture this:
You’re at the supermarket, you’ve got your cart loaded up, and you’re in the checkout line. You’re in a hurry, because you’ve got places to go and people to see, so you’ve got your eyes on every other checkout line in the store in case one opens up. After all, you can’t stand this crowded line, and if someone would just ring up your purchases you’d be on your way.
Just when you’re about to the head of the line, you see an opening two lanes over. There’s not a moment to lose, so without thinking, you grab your cart and rush over there. YES – you are first in line! But the cashier and the customers around you are giving you dirty looks. This is an express lane and you’ve got way more than 10 items. The cashier starts ringing you up anyway. Then the register runs out of receipt paper, or the credit card machine won’t work, or the manager comes by to ask if you’re going to pay for the grapes you were eating while you waited in the other line.
Ugh. No matter what you do, people won’t stop giving you a death stare for holding them up, and when you look back at the other lane, everyone who was in line behind you is gone. You made the wrong call, and it’s too late to go back. In fact, everything you do only makes it worse, and you feel like kind of an idiot.
I think that’s how Gubernatorial Attorney General Candidate Susan Bysiewicz feels right about now.