The Time I Became a Checkout Line Ninja

We’ve all been there. Standing in the grocery store checkout line, silently judging everyone’s choices (“Cereal for dinner again, huh?”) and engaging in a strange dance of politeness and passive aggression.

Just the other day, I found myself in the express lane with a mere ten items, stuck behind a woman meticulously counting out exact change. As the minutes ticked by, I swear I could feel the judgment of the people behind me. Their stares burned into my back, a silent chorus of “Hurry it up already!“

That’s when I realized it: grocery store lines have their own unspoken language, a complex code of conduct that dictates everything from cart placement to eye contact. And I, my friends, had become fluent.

The Art of Cart Alignment in Grocery Store Checkout Lines

The way you position your cart in the checkout line speaks volumes. Are you a close-talker, pushing your cart so close to the person in front of you that they can practically feel your breath on their neck? Or are you a respectful distancer, leaving enough room for a small child (or, you know, a pandemic) to comfortably fit between your cart and the next?

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