[HN Gopher] 'It's ridiculous': publicans bemused by rise of sing...
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       'It's ridiculous': publicans bemused by rise of single-file queues
       to get served
        
       Author : zeristor
       Score  : 7 points
       Date   : 2026-01-31 20:57 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.theguardian.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.theguardian.com)
        
       | maxrev17 wrote:
       | Stop putting card machines in a single place... till in the back
       | was the key.
        
       | ryandrake wrote:
       | > "Maybe there's something I've missed, but we've tried
       | everything."
       | 
       | Even after reading the article, I'm not sure I understand why
       | they care so much. You've got a queue of people wanting to give
       | you money. Just take it and serve them drinks. Why do these pubs
       | care how people queue up?
       | 
       | To me, it seems like a good step forward. I never liked the mode
       | most bars/pubs operate in, where you need to push and muscle your
       | way up to the bar, squeezed in sideways next to everyone else,
       | trying to get the bartender's attention. A queue seems much more
       | orderly and civilized.
       | 
       | Imagine if fast food restaurants worked the way bars worked:
       | Instead of waiting in line, everyone just mashes themselves up to
       | the counter waving cash around and shouting their burger orders
       | to whoever's attention they can capture...
        
         | wiedelphine wrote:
         | The article says its hurting business. Its also an inefficent
         | use of space and blocks throughfares. The space is designed
         | with the lateral queues in mind.
        
         | metanonsense wrote:
         | I think the issue it the (literal) "head-of-line blocking".
         | Some requests can be processed either "concurrently" like
         | tapping a beer from a keg or in parallel by having multiple
         | bartenders, but having all people standing strictly in line
         | makes this difficult.
        
       | nlawalker wrote:
       | It's not COVID, it's the rise of technology-enabled orderliness
       | and reward for planning ahead, like ordering food and drinks
       | ahead for pickup, or booking the specific seats you want at the
       | theater, and growing expectations that such orderliness is
       | present.
        
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       (page generated 2026-01-31 23:01 UTC)