I had grabbed a few items in an unfamiliar grocery store and headed for the express checkout line—10 items or less. I queued up and noticed that the person in front of me had a full cart. I counted the items: 35. Well, that took care of my feeling badly for having 11. When it was my turn, I asked (politely) how someone with 35 items could use the express checkout lane. “It’s not my responsibility,” the clerk replied. “Well, whose responsibility is it?” That generated a shrug, followed by, “If you don’t like it, you can tell her she’s got too much stuff.” So it was my responsibility to police the express lane.
