Cafes should have 2 lines...

Sadly true. Nobody ever has the combination of decaff-plus-flavour tea I have at home - I've started to wonder if I could take my own teabag & just get some hot water but pay the price for tea.

Oh, & in the States they never seemed to use hot enough water for tea, though some places had a good selection of teabags.

I wish counters serving ice creams (I mean real ice cream, not soft serves) at popular places would employ more than just one person to serve the ice creams. I stood in a queue once and there were about 15 people waiting, the queue literally didn't move one bit. I gave up in the end.

Has anyone posted this yet?

This used to be even worse in the old days, when someone would pack all their shopping away carefully, then reach into theiir handbag & get out... a chequebook and pen - and a guarantee card to go with it. You can imagine the delay with that.

Recently I was stuck at the supermarket, next in line behind a couple who'd finished their shop but were arguing with the cashier about using a money-off voucher which wasn't working for some reason. This supermarket sometimes gives amazing vouchers, so I assumed it was for a lot of money, but after 5-10 minutes of back & forth, it turned out to be worth... 25p. If I'd known that at the beginning, I would've given them the 25p in coins just to get rid of them. They were completely oblivious to the queue behind them, in their pursuit of 25p.

THIS! Yabu, OP

Ah so one time I was trying to get home and had a 40 minute wait at the station (think big city nightmare, too many people). I had been on the go all day, had a headache and just wanted the day to be over! So to pass the time, I found the Costa in the station, ordered a crap cafe tea and curled up like a frazzled mouse. It was probably the cosiest thing I could do given the circumstances. And it was bloody lovely.

I agree. In fact I agree so much..

Let me know when you find somewhere that does a really good cup of tea. I am a tea drinker by choice but when I'm out I am often disappointed by the dirty bathwater that is usually served up so opt for a coffee.

I stopped at a Starbucks at a casino in Las Vegas that didn't have two lines, but they did have two separate pick up areas. I was there for a convention, and the crowds were huge, line was long. I only ever order drip coffee with a splash of cream. I don't do the cold drinks with whipped cream, etc. The line moved quickly because the baristas were awesome and worked at top speed. I had just finished paying when my coffee was set at a separate pickup area, not even a minute later. I got some sour looks from people waiting for their drinks. I wish there were two separate lines, but it seems that the more elaborate drinks are more popular.

I want a separate car park for people who can actually reverse park reasonably swiftly, and who don't go in and out of the space multiple times and who seem to pause directly across the road for a rest and a fag.

And a line for people who know what they want to order and another line for those people who bizzarely only make up their mind when it’s their turn to be served and ask a million questions…

https://www.chocolate-bar.co.uk/

This one is nice near me. 😋

Can we have a separate line for the person who starts ordering and then shouts to the 20 family and friends they have with them "do you want a drink before i pay? Go and ask so and so if they want one.." organise who wants what then get in thr que!

If they serve up tea instantly the chances are that it will be piss weak from a bag or stewed from an urn

@TheClangyClunk

Why isn’t there a more efficient way of moving queues along in coffee shops? Would more machines help? A conveyor system when one staff member did one bit of it and another did the next?

They need to do the old fashioned style of "time and motion" study to identify the inefficiencies, change the layout/equipment and train the staff in more efficient operation. Trouble is a lot of cafe/shop owners/managers don't even notice it's a problem as they're often not looking at their business from the customer's point of view/experience.

At our local football stadium, it's a nightmare getting served at the refreshment counters. Each counter has 3 people, one operating the till (and nothing else), one serving the drinks (and nothing else) and one serving the food/snacks (and nothing else). 90% of the time the person on the till is nothing nothing because she's served someone who is now waiting for the drinks/food who is "hogging" the counter as there's no space for anyone else. People are waiting behind people waiting for a hot drink even though they only want a Mars bar. The hot drink person is often doing nothing because the customer is waiting for some hot food being prepared. Even just a re-jig of the counter would make a big difference, but even better would be separate counters - one for drinks/counter snacks and one for drinks/hot food. But they have two identical inefficient counters in each concourse.

I was that person in Subway, many years ago in (of all places) Intercourse, Pennsylvania. Luckily there were no other customers at the time, because my ignorance & confusion were boundless.

I was in a cafe once and an old guy just asked for a coffee, the barista asked which type, the old man just replied "have you got nescafe?"

I'm not offended by "lines".... a queue is a line of people, no?

"Y'all" made me laugh though.

Reminds me of the late Dave Allen, who said that banks, post offices and other public amenities should put signs up saying 'This is the Arsehole Queue'.

Fully agree, and they also need a sign 'If your friend has bagged a table, whilst you que to order, make sure you know what they want. If you hesitate, even for a nano second, you will have to go to the back of the que'.

I want a slow queue in the supermarket for customers who want to chat with the checkout staff

Yanbu. I've had to stop going to several places because of this. I just want a hot tea and to get on my way. Waiting around for other peoples faffy coffee and a chat does my head in.

I usually go to mcdonalds now as I know I'll have a tea in my hand in 2 mins and be out again.

I propose 5 queues.
One for teas, one for bottled drinks (ready to go, no messing), one for people with allergies and intolerances who require a more “faffy” drink, one for people who like a slightly jazzed-up coffee (vanilla latte for me, please), and one for those who enjoy a half pump hazelnut 8 pumps vanilla 4 pumps gingerbread 2 pumps sugar syrup half skimmed half semi skimmed with vanilla cold foam and low fat sugar-free caramel whipped cream iced latte with extra hot milk and a chocolate dusting.

I will add that I cannot abide takeaway tea. I love tea at home, and from a teapot in a cafe, but I cannot stand the taste of it in those paper cups. Something about those cups just makes it taste like the smell of bin juice. Eugh.

Pavements. To go with your queues instead of your lines and sidewalks.