Dunno if this has been asked before but I think everyone has been in this situation.

You are approaching the checkout lines at the supermarket with your twenty or so items. You can't go in the express lines because 15 is the max and you don't like the self-checkout so what do you choose?

Do you get in the line where there are three people who would be in front of you with tons of stuff each in their carts to check out or another line with maybe ten people but each only have about five or six items in their carts?

I never can decide which will go faster.

I prefer the self-check out and if I can get away with using it even if I have too many items in my cart, then I will. But in this scenario, I would go with the longer with customers who have fewer items. Customers with a lot of items are usually a hassle with coupons and haggling with check out people over prices, etc.

I usually go for the line where people have the fewer purchases but at some point you're going to reach the point of diminishing returns even if you get in a line of 10 people with 5 items each instead of 1 person with 1 cart load.

When I find a line with just two or three carts, I go for that. Even if they have a lot of stuff it is normally the paying/couponing process that takes the longest.

I'd rather get in the longer line with people who had few items. One customer with $200 worth of groceries can take five to ten minutes alone.

I'd probably get in line with the few customers with a bunch of items, then regret it when other customers got in line behind me....and I saw the other line was moving faster.

Chris wrote:

I'd rather get in the longer line with people who had few items. One customer with $200 worth of groceries can take five to ten minutes alone.

It can be a crapshoot but

Sometimes even if a line has 10 people with 5 items each can take longer than 3 with a basket full. I usually go to the 3 with the basket full.