The Incredibly Busy Empty Break Room

[catcul]

This morning, I went to wash my two water bottles in the sink in the break room. When I got to the sink, nobody was at the sink. After I got the bottles soapy, suddenly there was a line of people waiting to use the sink.

After I rinsed them and dried them, I went to the ice machine to get ice and water. There was no line at the machine. As I started filling the second bottle up, there was a line waiting at the machine. I don't think it takes that long to wash and fill two liter-sized water bottles.

This uses the same principle as the theory of the Incredibly Busy Empty Street. IBE Street has no traffic until you have to turn on it or cross it.

[dalesys]

... line of people waiting to use the sink.
... line waiting at the machine...

If they were rubbing their forelegs together in a prayerful attitude...

Unknowingly, you must be the reincarnation of Beelzebub!

[wolfie]

This uses the same principle as the theory of the Incredibly Busy Empty Street. IBE Street has no traffic until you have to turn on it or cross it.

I've always referred to this phenomenon as the "4-wheeler beacon" - a street in an industrial area has no traffic until a semi tries backing into a loading dock door (some places have the doors set up so you have to do your manouvering on the street). Suddenly the place is crowded with cars - almost as if the truck had a beacon announcing "Truck making a difficult manouver - come get in the way".

[drunkenwildmage]

Sounds like the 'Left turn (Or right turn depending on your country) Drive-thru Phenomenon' I have happen to me. You see the McDonald's(or whatever fast food place) has no one in the drive thru. You go to make a left turn, across traffic, into the McDonald's, and have to wait for the traffic coming from the other way to pass. As you wait, 5 of the 6 cars you are waiting on all decide they need to hit the drive thru at the same time, so you go from potential being the 1st car in line, to 6th,just in the time that it took you to wait for traffic to clear.

[Android Kaeli]

This happens constantly elsewhere besides work, it never fails that if I go into a store, restaurant, or elsewhere there's literally next to no one there. Then as soon as I'm checking out, finishing my meal, or leaving, BOOM! Everyone and their mother decides to come in right as soon as I'm done.

And it's happened at work as well. Soon as I get off from work everyone decides to come in at once, my co-workers and managers are giving me the stink-eye as I'm walking out the door.

[HotelMinion]

This happens constantly elsewhere besides work, it never fails that if I go into a store, restaurant, or elsewhere there's literally next to no one there. Then as soon as I'm checking out, finishing my meal, or leaving, BOOM! Everyone and their mother decides to come in right as soon as I'm done.

OMG me too! My mom and I used to go around the mall and feel sorry for those shops that were so empty. So we'd pop in and sure enough it turned busy! We thought we were very good for business. LOL. We also thought we were the only ones that it happened to. Everytime.

[MoonCat]

I thought it was just me and my sisters that that happened to!

[notalwaysright]

I tried and failed to find something I could link on this. The closest is queuing theory, but that's not exactly what I was looking for. There is some study on the idea that if a person sees a line, they feel like they need to get in it, as if they will be missing out if they don't. People have been known to get in line without knowing what the line is for. So when one person does something (get in line, go to the ice maker, etc) now other people see and some kind of peer pressure kicks in. With the fast food drive through I figure other people saw the lack of line, and all thought "woo, no waiting!" I actually find it faster to go through while the line is medium length. The food seems to be fresher, and the line will go quickly because that's the way the fast food assembly line was desgined. Not for one person at a time, if that makes sense.

Here's what happens at my work every stinking day. No one is waiting at the cutting counter. Someone comes up and I make them take a number, because per our DM every person who wants fabric cut must get a number, even if it is clear no one else is waiting. I page the number over the loud speaker, again, because I have to. Within seconds after I page the number, suddenly a half dozen people run up to take numbers! I assume it's because once they heard the number being paged, they perceive urgency.

Sorry, I find this really interesting. I have lost a good chunk of time reading about queuing theory today.

[KellyHabersham]

Reminds me of something that happened back when I was working at Macy's - a woman needed to do a return/exchange with a watch, there were no other customers at the watch counter, but as soon as I got started helping here, a youngish guy, an older couple, and a woman with teen girls all showed up and wanted to look at watches.

[rvdammit]

Bus bunching theory at work. Any point with a wait will cause a bunching at that point where you wait for the one in front.

[rapana1]

I think I just got a new Work-Safe Swear out of this.
"Well, bunch my buses!"

[dalesys]

I think I just got a new Work-Safe Swear out of this.
"Well, bunch my buses!"

Just don't mispronounce it as busses...

[WishfulSpirit]

Does queing theory have an explination for why people WILL NOT abandon the line they are in even if "no waiting in [my department]" is being announced every 30 seconds or so?

[notalwaysright]

Does queing theory have an explination for why people WILL NOT abandon the line they are in even if "no waiting in [my department]" is being announced every 30 seconds or so?

I didn't see anything specific, but my guess is that a person is afraid of leaving their position in line for theoretical unseen cashier. I might even be disinclined to do it, because I would fear that by the time I got to your department 13234 other people may have heard your page and gotten there first. Now I'm out of my original place in line. I mean, if you're paging multiple times, and if the line I'm in has a SC in front I might hurry over. In queuing theory they are called "line stoppers."

There is a certain suspicion when someone sees one cashier with a really small line, and all the other cashiers having really long lines. People assume there is some problem with the transaction. I would not have guessed people to be that smart. When I walk by the zillion tills at the grocery store I do not look at the number of items a person has. I look at what they have. A bunch of clothes? Nope, moving on. They generally all have security tags which take extra time, and then they are usually folded. I go for the line where the belt is moving, and preferable there isn't a little kid (loose, not in the cart) or an elderly couple. If it's a college age male I'm almost always golden. I've very rarely seem them argue.

[Evannah]

Reminds me of when you're walking beside the road, which is empty and very quiet, and you need to cross eventually. Suddenly there are cars EVERYWHERE and it takes you five minutes to cross...