Don't Encourage Them

The other day I was out doing a very small amount of food shopping and only had six items in my little basket. As such I went to the Express Checkout Lane, which was designed for just such an occasion. (Actually, I usually use self-checkout, but that wasn't offered, which is a whole other post for a whole other day.) There were only two people ahead of me, one of which was a single guy with two items and his cash in his hand, so I knew he would be quick. In front of him was a woman with a fuller basket and coupons, but I decided to roll the dice since it still seemed like this was going to be the fastest line. However, she took long enough that I had time to look around and that was when I glanced up at the sign above the register:

Express Lane.
Around 12 items or fewer.

Um, excuse me, but what the hell is with this 'around' stuff? Since when did supermarkets start playing so fast and loose with the rules? The whole point of an express lane is to limit the number of item so that everything moves quickly. If you start allowing anyone to show up with any number of items that defeats the entire purpose, don't you think? Immediately my eyes shot back to the woman at the front of the line, because God help her if she like 15 items in her cart. Fortunately, she was right at the 12 item limit.

I'm sure this is the result of too many people getting into the Express line with 13 or 14 items and the person behind them starting to complain, which the kid working the register simply does want to hear. As someone who once worked a register, I get that. We've covered this before: complain up, not across. Plus, you could make the case that buying 14 of the same item is technically just one item because it is very easy to ring up. (You'd be wrong to make that case though; that should still count as 14 items, in case you were wondering.)

I think the main reason this concerns me is because of the vague nature of the word 'around'. I'm a precise man, I need precise guidelines. I need to know if I showed up with 20 items is that too many, or does it fall into the category of close enough? What is the buffer I'm allowed to work with? At what point will I begin to draw the ire of everyone behind me in line? I think the problem is that deep down people know there are not going to be any real repercussions, even if you go way over 12 items. You're still going to get rung up and it's not like they are going to put you in supermarket jail.

I simply don't like the precedent this sets. Just because a lot of people break a law that doesn't mean it isn't a law anymore. If enough people start speeding down a road, do they raise the speed limit? No, of course not. If you aren't going to hold people to the express lane limits, then what is the point of having them? Lastly, (and probably most importantly) if you are going to allow people to employ a "close, but not quite" attitude in the supermarket, can we use that when it comes to prices?