15 item limit

I try not to let the little things bother me. If everybody followed the rules and didn't think they were for everybody EXCEPT them, the world would be a much better place. However, it is my opinion the vast majority of people are for themselves and don't give a hoot about anyone else. Everything nowadays is me me me!

Look no further than any supermarket in America. In order to expedite the check out process,for many years stores have had express lanes for people with 15 items or less (or is that 15 items or fewer?). Anyway, when people follow the rules it's a beautiful system. It keeps somebody with 3 or 4 items from waiting behind a mother of 6 with two overflowing carts. The problems arise when some knucklehead who thinks he's too important to wait in line enters the express lane with a cart full of groceries. I don't expect some teenage cashier to tell Mr. Knucklehead to put all the items back in his cart and go through one of the regular lines. Ain't gonna happen... The whole system goes into the tank when people like this mess it up. EVERYBODY ends up waiting longer all because Mr. Knucklehead believes his time is more valuable than yours.

For the record, I have gone through the express lane with more than 15 items. But only because I was invited by a cashier or manager to do so because there was nobody else waiting. That's a whole different matter.

I'm sure it's for reasons like these grocery stores have been forced to put up signs like the one below. It's just plain sad.