Shopping at Christmas and How to Avoid Long Lines (or Not)

First, a confession: I rarely go to the store. It’s even more rare that I go to an actual store during the holidays.* The reason for this mainly boils down to the fact that I don’t like large groups of people, and one of the best ways to avoid large groups of people is to not go to the store. Especially during the holidays. That said, it’s not an actual phobia or anything–I’m perfectly fine going to the movies, or to concerts, or football games. But stores bring out the worst in people sometimes, and when I actually do go to them, it’s usually because I need something and am in a hurry. Inevitably, I get stuck in a slow checkout lane. I’m betting the same thing happens to you, too.

Today I found out there’s a mathematical reason for that.

First, check out the video that explains it. I’ll have a bit more to say about it after you’re done.

Isn’t that interesting? It makes me like BestBuy just a smidge more, and makes me understand my misfortune in all checkout lines that much better. Now if they’d only figure out why it is I always sit in front of the chatty obnoxious people in the movie theater.

*Where do I do my shopping? Almost 100% online. I love the reviews, the ability to find out more info about a product easily–all that good stuff. Of course, with bar code scanner apps coming to smartphones, it’s possible to be in the store, scan the bar code and get all that info while you’re actually holding the product, which might win me over to more in-store purchases in the future . . .