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Comment by Merem | Hacker News Reader

Why didn't you just pass the checkout line? If you won't buy anything, you don't have to wait. So it's not surprising you got that reaction...which would be the same, regardless of whether you are in the Western or Eastern part of Germany.

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There was no exit, the people waiting in the checkout lines blocked the only possible exit.

I just assume you are an idiot. Next!

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>Why didn't you just pass the checkout line?

Because those lines are obviously filled with people with stuff on their hands or carts, blocking easy access?

And because in 99% of the world the purpose of such lines are just to pay, and you can just walk out as you came in if you didn't buy anything...

Those are wide enough for a shopping cart and a person next to it, so one can pass the line decently fine. And if people see someone who isn't buying anything, they even make sure not to block him/her. The OP later said in a different post that it was "very narrow". I've never seen a supermarket like that before but then again, "Allkauf" stopped existing like 20 years ago and who knows how long before that he went there.

The entry is clearly marked though and it is obvious that it doesn't double as an exit. So arguing that it's different in 99% of the world doesn't score a point.

>Those are wide enough for a shopping cart and a person next to it, so one can pass the line decently fine.

Doesn't look like we use the same definition of "wide enough":

http://c8.alamy.com/comp/CRCY5X/people-at-the-checkout-in-a-...

But even so, why "pass the line"? That's what's usually frowned upon in the rest of the world, not getting out without passing through the cashier line if you haven't bought anything.

>The entry is clearly marked though and it is obvious that it doesn't double as an exit. So arguing that it's different in 99% of the world doesn't score a point.

It's probably more about "you're doing it wrong", get on with the rest of the world.

The perspective in that picture isn't exactly a good one. But there should be enough space to pass by them on the right side. This one is good and shows what I mean with "shopping cart + person".

http://www.lebensmittelzeitung.net/gallery/media/156/4733-de...

Is it? It's a line that's not relevant to you (it's for paying, not for getting out), so I don't see why one shouldn't just pass it?

There are setups where there isn't room, I promise. The one I saw there wasn't the first or last one I had seen.

For example: http://www.supermarketnews.com/sites/supermarketnews.com/fil...

Note the width of the cart vs the width of the aisle. Imagine a longer line where everyone has a cart. This happens to be an Aldi, a German owned chain that operates in the US.

Usually, there's some alternate exit, this time there wasn't.

To be fair, those don't really count as they are built to serve American customers. The cashier, for example, would never put what you bought into your cart. (Heck, I wouldn't even allow it, just look at how messy it is.) That's why there is space behind the checkout.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hkXxvHAFttQ/maxresdefault.jpg

And looking at your picture, the space becomes more narrow at the checkout. I have no idea why they would need that much space - there is a lot of room between her and the barcode scanner.

You are basically saying that I am lying about the experience, so I posted a picture to show that this situation does exist. I don't have pictures of the actual store...This was quite some time ago.

The lanes were not much wider than the carts. If they were wider, I would have left that way.

That's not the case. I pointed out your specific picture is of an American store and therefore doesn't hold an value, despite it being a German chain (which you pointed to).

I certainly don't doubt that some supermarkets are built in the way you are describing (with the checkout being like that) but I personally haven't seen one yet.

I had never encountered this setup before either. Hence my unusual solution.

If I had witnessed that, I'm sure I would have had a smile on my face, considering only children would do something like that. Even as a shoplifter, you would use one of the lines.

But hey, at least your solution worked. Too bad about the disapproving looks though (depending on your age, maybe they thought you were some kind of delinquent).

>If I had witnessed that, I'm sure I would have had a smile on my face, considering only children would do something like that.

Only children and people accustomed to how stores in most of the world work.

"Pardon him. Theodotus: he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature."

You are taking this way too seriously. I also doubt that "people accustomed to how stores in most of the world work" would all jump over the turnstyle, despite it being clearly not an exit. Especially the jumping (or climbing) part is one I really only see kids doing as they like to exercise since they are often full of energy.

I said jumping, because that's the common vernacular for bypassing a turnstyle. In reality, it's more like sitting on it and swinging your legs over.

You might be surprised at the number of people that will bypass intentional barriers when the overall layout is stupid. The internal dialogue is something like "me doing this is less stupid than whoever decided this setup made sense".

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