I was VERY close to being out of line here

[scroob]

It was busy as all hell at my store, and it was a day where most "chronologically advanced" customers come to my store for a discount. I had gotten back from my break and was going to help my cw cut down her line, which consisted of 4 people. Now anyone who works retail knows it is customary in that case to take the next customer in line. So I called out "I can take the next customer over on my side." And the next customer, as well as the last customer, came over to my side. Now I turned to the last customer in line and said "I am just taking one customer from the line at a time to be fair to the people who have been waiting in line the longest." So they sighed but moved back over to the other side. I rang out my customer and looked to the other side. My cw had since taken the other 2 customers in line, so the next people I could've waited on would be the one that had come over to my line originally. I said "Ok I can take you over on my side now." They came over and one practically yelled at me "You know, it's not fair to make 86 year old's walk back and forth like that. SHAME ON YOU!!!" I said, "that's fine, but to be fair, you did line-jump" and then just dropped it, before I said something that could've made me really outta line.
Let me have it I'm ready.

[Food Lady]

"You seemed to have no trouble walking through the store before you got to the registers."

[Apathy]

"You seemed to have no trouble walking through the store before you got to the registers."

Checklanes aren't subject to the same rules as the rest of the store. For example, someone will shop for well over an hour or two, piddling around and being indecisive, but the second they hit the line, they need to get through it as fast as possible, and they're "busy" at that point too.
How much time they wasted beforehand is irrelevant; you're inconveniencing them by going too slow. Slow meaning as fast as a human can reasonably go.

[Food Lady]

Checklanes aren't subject to the same rules as the rest of the store. For example, someone will shop for well over an hour or two, piddling around and being indecisive, but the second they hit the line, they need to get through it as fast as possible, and they're "busy" at that point too. How much time they wasted beforehand is irrelevant; you're inconveniencing them by going too slow. Slow meaning as fast as a human can reasonably go.

I have to admit I'm guilty of this, and have to remind myself to be patient. But I'd never take it out on the cashier.

[AnaKhouri]

When I worked at TJ Maxx this was the standard policy, next person in line gets served next if you open another register. I've had other customers (the ones who were at the end of line) try to line-jump and, when told the policy, snarl, "THAT'S STUPID!"

One tried that on my last day working there. It was my last day, so I replied, "I bet you wouldn't think it was stupid if you were next in line." Shut her up right quick.

[Andara Bledin]

Meh. You said you could take "the next person."

They weren't "the next person" so any extra walking is on their own heads. Or feet, rather.

^-.-^

[mikoyan29]

Back in the days when I was a cashier and I was opening a lane when things were busy, I always made it a point to go around to the front and get the next person in the line over. I found that if I just flipped on the light, it was like the Indy 500....Entertaining....but not very pleasant.