Ok - You are in a supermarket.  There are two express check outs.  Both have lines that stretch to at least 12 people.  Menatime there are 16 full service check out spots with eight of them in service.  Of these eight only four are being utilized.  What is it that makes people think that they have to use the express lines if they have under 10 or 15 itmes.  Full service check outs have no restrictions.  So use them people unless you like standing in line at Pathmark!  I used Pathmark as an example for Howard's benefit.

Please post your observations and experiences on this sheepish matter.

Germans.


:o :o :o

Republican?  :D ;D ;D ;D




Cat

Using the drive-through even though there is a really long line to the window.  It's often worth parking and seeing how long the line is inside

Using the drive-through even though there is a really long line to the window.  It's often worth parking and seeing how long the line is inside


I like this - very smart.  8)

When there is one set of outside doors propped open but not another set, people will veer off the path they are walking JUST to go thru the open doors.  It's amusing

parking lots.  ::)

When there is one set of outside doors propped open but not another set, people will veer off the path they are walking JUST to go thru the open doors.  .

I have actually witnessed this phenonomen with my own eyes.  So true, so true!  It's amusing.  Karma for you because I always chuckle at their lack of observation


parking lots.  ::)


Howard - At first I thought I was on the "one word" thread but I checked and I was not.  Absolutely brilliant response.  People also "vulture" in parking lots - that is when they wait for someone heading through the lot and try to follow them to an open spot or spot someone loading up and who is going to take at least 5 minutes to finish loading up the SUV with their goods and pay no attention to the line of cars that get stuck behind them.  Baa Baa.  Karma for you for such a simple but all too true response. 

waiting in line for the city bus.

waiting in line for the city bus.


And then what Howard, do they then follow behind the bus or what?  :D

And then what Howard, do they then follow behind the bus or what?   :D


they go on the bus and pay the fare.

they go on the bus and pay the fare.


but how is this sheep-like behaviour? 

but how is this sheep-like behaviour? 


The way they walk.

The way they walk.


You mean like on all fours and if they walk then why would they take the bus?   ???

You mean like on all fours and if they thne walk why would they take the bus?   ???


Sorry,I guess it was a wrong thought.

Sorry,I guess it was a wrong thought.


Howard - You live in NYC - ever stand in front of a skyscraper and stare up at it just to see how many people will look up?  Try it somethime.  You'd be surprised how many people will stop and look.  But maybe not.  New Yorkers are a different breed of folk than city dwellers elsewhere.  Anyone that looks up is probably a tourist in NYC.  ;)

Howard - You live in NYC - ever stand in front of a skyscraper and stare up at it just to see how many people will look up?  Try it somethime.  You'd be surprised how many people will stop and look.  But maybe not.  New Yorkers are a different breed of folk than city dwellers elsewhere.  Anyone that looks up is probably a tourist in NYC.   ;)


Yes us New Yorkers are quite different.

Ok - You are in a supermarket.  There are two express check outs.  Both have lines that stretch to at least 12 people.  Menatime there are 16 full service check out spots with eight of them in service.  Of these eight only four are being utilized.  What is it that makes people think that they have to use the express lines if they have under 10 or 15 itmes.  Full service check outs have no restrictions.  So use them people unless you like standing in line at Pathmark!  I used Pathmark as an example for Howard's benefit.

Please post your observations and experiences on this sheepish matter.
FIrst of all - what store are you in???  Because that is my dream store!  I am a leader not a follower - head straight for the closest open line and proceed to check out (run if others also spot this open lane, and start scurrying in that direction).  I will head to an express line, if it is open, even if I have 25+ items ::)  My time is valuable and they are paying someone to be there, I might as well use them ;)

BTW - Sheep are stupid...  This is spoken from a true cattle rancher ::)  Maybe that is where I get my individuality  ;)

I will head to an express line, if it is open, even if I have 25+ items ::) 

Ugh.  When I was a cashier I used to get so pissed at people who did this...  :P

BTW - Sheep are stupid...  This is spoken from a true cattle rancher ::)  Maybe that is where I get my individuality  ;)



and they go "BAAAA"!  :D

BTW - Sheep are stupid...  This is spoken from a true cattle rancher ::)  Maybe that is where I get my individuality  ;)


Bovines will starve to death in a snow storm as they stand on top of grass that they could eat.  They don't see it so it's not there.  Equines however will move the snow with their hooves and chow on down.  ¿Quien es mas intellegente?

FIrst of all - what store are you in??? 

None of the stores I go to, that's for sure.  We have the 4 self check, 1 express if you are lucky and 1 full service checkstand open at any time of the day...no matter how busy it is.  Every once in a while someone will complain and the manager will either pull a full cart to the express or open another one.

I just had an experience coming home from work.  A sign on a limited access highway conspicuously declares that the right lane is closed ahead.  Of course there is instant bottleneck as those inconsiderate drivers insist on riding the right lane until it is time to sneak into the left lane.  Once this area is passed the traffic speed goes back to something way more normal.  This is an example where people SHOULD follow like sheep and get into the left lane ASAP.  If they did then there would be no bottle neck and the trafic would move along at a slower than speed limit rate but much faster than the bottle neck effect. 

I give no breaks to those sitting in the right lane trying to get ahead of me when they run the right lane to the end of the line and expect someone nice to let them in..  I do this not because I want me to be first but to show them that I do not put up with this type of ignorant driving abuse.  I had a driver nearly hit me trying to get in front of me at the border line of the right lane here today.  I refused to yield and he remained stuck there for at least the next ten cars once they saw what I did.  I also slowed to about 5 MPH for a bit so he had to wait a bit longer to finally force his way into the left lane.  Hope he learned a lesson, but I doubt it.  The right lane opened up again in about a mile.  I moved to the right lane and within a few minutes he came flying up along side of me in the left lane, laid on the horn and flipped me off.  I just waived at him and smiled.  ;)

I just had an experience coming home from work.  A sign on a limited access highway conspicuously declares that the right lane is closed ahead.  Of course there is instant bottleneck as those inconsiderate drivers insist on riding the right lane until it is time to sneak into the left lane.  Once this area is passed the traffic speed goes back to something way more normal.  This is an example where people SHOULD follow like sheep and get into the left lane ASAP.  If they did then there would be no bottle neck and the trafic would move along at a slower than speed limit rate but much faster than the bottle neck effect. 

I give no breaks to those sitting in the right lane trying to get ahead of me when they run the right lane to the end of the line and expect someone nice to let them in..  I do this not because I want me to be first but to show them that I do not put up with this type of ignorant driving abuse.  I had a driver nearly hit me trying to get in front of me at the border line of the right lane here today.  I refused to yield and he remained stuck there for at least the next ten cars once they saw what I did.  I also slowed to about 5 MPH for a bit so he had to wait a bit longer to finally force his way into the left lane.  Hope he learned a lesson, but I doubt it.  The right lane opened up again in about a mile.  I moved to the right lane and within a few minutes he came flying up along side of me in the left lane, laid on the horn and flipped me off.  I just waived at him and smiled.   ;)



That is because people in S.A. cannot drive.  ;)



Cat

That is because people in S.A. cannot drive.  ;)



Cat


Cat - I must agree.  You notice these thing s when you are not a native.  They don't really drive, they just aim.  But you know that since you've seen it first hand. 

I just had an experience coming home from work.  A sign on a limited access highway conspicuously declares that the right lane is closed ahead.  Of course there is instant bottleneck as those inconsiderate drivers insist on riding the right lane until it is time to sneak into the left lane.  Once this area is passed the traffic speed goes back to something way more normal.  This is an example where people SHOULD follow like sheep and get into the left lane ASAP.


Actually, not really.

The zipper-merge works, and therefore it may as well be done at the end of the lane than anywhere else.  (Really.  Here's a paper on the subject, and it explains when (and when not!) the late zipper merge is optimal.)

I'm a dynamic late merger.  If traffic is light, I'll do the merge early and yield, zipper-merge style, to anyone passing me in the soon-to-be-closed lane.  If traffic is heavy, I'll go most of the way to the end of the lane and take the last-available gap.  I won't go all the way to the very end of the line, because traffic at that point is likely to be completely jammed, which would mean that I'd have to come to a stop - and the problem isn't just that I'd have to wedge my way in like a douchebag, but that my having stopped would spawn a traffic wave in the closed lane behind me, meaning that we'd have multiple people having been unwittingly turned into douchebags.   So I do the next best thing, which is to use as much of the lane as is available, and find the last practical gap, and then let others zipper-merge with me.

Long live the zipper merge.  In Germany, it's the law, and for good reason.  For more about traffic waves and merging techniques, it's all out there on the web.

I saw this on the 'net a while ago and cut-and-pasted it for future reference:
Most of the world's traffic problems in the world could be solved if people displayed one of two bumper stickers to identify their driving style:

Sign A: "Driving over 55mph wastes fuel and costs lives."
Sign B: "Ever been on the autobahn? It's so much nicer than this."


They're both reasonable driving styles, but only if everyone's using the same style, and the problem with North American driver education is that there is no driver education.  Consequently, our roads are a mix of both groups.  We drive under opposing assumptions, and can't accurately predict the other guy's driving style.  I'm not in the soon-to-be-closed-lane because I want to get ahead of you, I'm there because I think the road will carry more people if I use the lane that's there.  (And if I'm in the lane that's getting merged into, I'm not blocking that douchebag who gunned it to get half a car length ahead of me, because even if he's a douchebag, I'm still responsible for letting him execute a zipper merge, even if he has no idea what he's doing.  I let him go in front of me, I stay in close behind him, so that the guy behind him squeezes in behind me.)

Actually, not really.

The zipper-merge works, and therefore it may as well be done at the end of the lane than anywhere else.  (Really.  Here's a paper on the subject, and it explains when (and when not!) the late zipper merge is optimal.)

I'm a dynamic late merger.  If traffic is light, I'll do the merge early and yield, zipper-merge style, to anyone passing me in the soon-to-be-closed lane.  If traffic is heavy, I'll go most of the way to the end of the lane and take the last-available gap.  I won't go all the way to the very end of the line, because traffic at that point is likely to be completely jammed, which would mean that I'd have to come to a stop - and the problem isn't just that I'd have to wedge my way in like a douchebag, but that my having stopped would spawn a traffic wave in the closed lane behind me, meaning that we'd have multiple people having been unwittingly turned into douchebags.   So I do the next best thing, which is to use as much of the lane as is available, and find the last practical gap, and then let others zipper-merge with me.

Long live the zipper merge.  In Germany, it's the law, and for good reason.  For more about traffic waves and merging techniques, it's all out there on the web.

I saw this on the 'net a while ago and cut-and-pasted it for future reference:
They're both reasonable driving styles, but only if everyone's using the same style, and the problem with North American driver education is that there is no driver education.  Consequently, our roads are a mix of both groups.  We drive under opposing assumptions, and can't accurately predict the other guy's driving style.  I'm not in the soon-to-be-closed-lane because I want to get ahead of you, I'm there because I think the road will carry more people if I use the lane that's there.  (And if I'm in the lane that's getting merged into, I'm not blocking that douchebag who gunned it to get half a car length ahead of me, because even if he's a douchebag, I'm still responsible for letting him execute a zipper merge, even if he has no idea what he's doing.  I let him go in front of me, I stay in close behind him, so that the guy behind him squeezes in behind me.)


So tell me how do you know when you are at the last available gap since the moving traffic is dynamic and one cannot always see down to the end of the blocked lane.  I have a parody that will come out in the next posting.  The OS is Penny Lane.  The parody titile is "Any Lane".  It doesn't deal with zipper merges but is does deal with traffic situations.  I have been in email contact with ChuckyG overnight.  He told me that he will probably not post any new parodies today since there are so few in his queue. 

And about the bumper stickers, yes I have driven on the Autobahn.  I had no idea that the zipper merge was the law in Germany.  I just knew that while I was there that there was a much better class of driver than here.  I was on temporary duty there when there was still and East and West Germany.  I have also driven in Tokyo - If you can drive there, you can drive anywhere.  Traffic, narrow streets and kamakazi drivers make driving a total challenge, besides driving on the opposite side of the car and street and the street signs are all in Kanji.  I managed to drive there for three years without ever being stopped by a cop or even the slightest of accidents. 

What helps a  lot in the city that I live in has transguide and when there is a problem ahead transguide signs will tell you which lanes are blocked and how far ahead the problem is.  I was on a four lane divided state highway when I was in that traffic jam with the right lane blocked due to construction.  Unfortunately there are no transguide signs on that highway. 

I still say that if all traffic got into a single line everything would go a lot smoother and quicker.  There was a bottle neck up to the point of the blocked lane and then a single lane after that.  That single lane had traffic moving at 55 MPH past the blocked point.  Yeah you might have a longer line of single file vehicles but I really believe that they would move quicker and smoother.  There is always a bunch of jack wagons who want to beat the traffic by taking that blocked lane up as far as possible.  I think next time I get into this situation I'm going to straddle the lined lane divider.  I bet if I do that within a few minutes all the traffic in front of me will be moving at a quicker rate. 

So tell me how do you know when you are at the last available gap since the moving traffic is dynamic and one cannot always see down to the end of the blocked lane.  I have a parody that will come out in the next posting.  The OS is Penny Lane.  The parody titile is "Any Lane".


...then it'll be funny.  We trust you :)

For merging into a closed lane, I usually merge in the last quarter-mile (or sooner) of the blocked lane.  I'll also be matching speed with traffic to the still-open lanes - no blasting down the emptying-lane at 40, slamming the brakes, and cutting in.  Smooth laminar flow is optimal for everyone; coast down to 20-10, and find that gap.  The closer my speed matches that of the traffic in the lane next to me, the more closely the speed of the guy behind me matches the speed of the traffic next to him, and the more likely it is that we can all do a zipper merge.


I still say that if all traffic got into a single line everything would go a lot smoother and quicker.  There was a bottle neck up to the point of the blocked lane and then a single lane after that.  That single lane had traffic moving at 55 MPH past the blocked point.  


Right.  Because you've got the aforementioned jackholes who want to see how many people they can pass before cutting in at the last second... and the self-appointed enforcers of decency (I'm not saying you're one of 'em, and I'd actually lay odds you're not) who are preventing them from merging.  Traffic waves are the results of interactions between incompatible driving styles.

As for the Autobahn, the reason it works better over there than it does over here is that everyone's trained to the same standard, and it's a much higher standard than the one to which we're trained in North America.  To switch gears from traffic jam techniques to dealing with long-haul road trips in the middle of nowhere, there are some places, especially out west, where the roads are good enough for "no restrictions" on speed, but the drivers, collectively, aren't up to it.  I don't try and maintain triple-digit speeds not just because I don't trust other drivers, but because even in places where there are no other drivers, I don't trust my own skills at those speeds.  I'm not trained to those standards either.  But damn, I'd like to be :)

...then it'll be funny.  We trust you :)

For merging into a closed lane, I usually merge in the last quarter-mile (or sooner) of the blocked lane.  I'll also be matching speed with traffic to the still-open lanes - no blasting down the emptying-lane at 40, slamming the brakes, and cutting in.  Smooth laminar flow is optimal for everyone; coast down to 20-10, and find that gap.  The closer my speed matches that of the traffic in the lane next to me, the more closely the speed of the guy behind me matches the speed of the traffic next to him, and the more likely it is that we can all do a zipper merge.

Right.  Because you've got the aforementioned jackholes who want to see how many people they can pass before cutting in at the last second... and the self-appointed enforcers of decency (I'm not saying you're one of 'em, and I'd actually lay odds you're not) who are preventing them from merging.  Traffic waves are the results of interactions between incompatible driving styles.

As for the Autobahn, the reason it works better over there than it does over here is that everyone's trained to the same standard, and it's a much higher standard than the one to which we're trained in North America.  To switch gears from traffic jam techniques to dealing with long-haul road trips in the middle of nowhere, there are some places, especially out west, where the roads are good enough for "no restrictions" on speed, but the drivers, collectively, aren't up to it.  I don't try and maintain triple-digit speeds not just because I don't trust other drivers, but because even in places where there are no other drivers, I don't trust my own skills at those speeds.  I'm not trained to those standards either.  But damn, I'd like to be :)


It takes a lot more effort to get a driver's license in Germany.  They even teach basic maintenance and since as you say they are all trained to the same standard it makes for a lot better drivers.  You will get no arguement from me on this.  When I was in Germany the speed limits in the states was 55.  I got onto the autobahn and everyone was driving 110 to 120 MPH.  I very quickly realized that everything suddenly was happening twice as fast and my reaction time was cut in half.  That was a real learning experience.  I did fine.