Should the Poor Wait Longer?

There are many people who cut in line at the supermarket. Do you hate them? Did you conclude, “because they are rude”? Could it be that you are in a state of thought-stopping?

The truth is, line-cutting may actually be rooted in rationality. Suppose there is a person who takes 10 seconds to check out and another who takes 60 seconds. If the 10-second person comes before the 60-second person, then everyone else waits for others a total of 10 seconds. If the 60-second person comes before the 10-second person, then everyone else waits for others a total of 60 seconds. In other words, from the perspective of efficiency, it is rational for the 10-second person to “cut in line” ahead of the 60-second person.

I don’t particularly like Kant, but let me make use of him here. Regardless of who arrived first, let us imagine a universal law: “In the supermarket, those who take less time go first.” From this point on, whenever I buy many items, I must wait proportionally longer. Perhaps I will even have to wait more than an hour. But what if this is the case: I am poor, so I live far from the supermarket, and whenever I come I have no choice but to buy a lot at once. Then the poor lose more time, while the rich gain more time.