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Comment by coldtea | Hacker News Reader

>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.

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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.

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