"How long would you wait in line for a cup of coffee?", I asked my son.
"Why are you asking me? I don't even drink coffee", he said.
"I know you don't drink coffee, but see that line there", I said, "do me a favor, can you quickly count and tell me how many people are in that line?"
"Really Dad! Don't you have anything better to do?", he said.
"Come on, be a sport, just count and tell me how many people are in that line", I urged.
"... 21, 22, 23, 24!", he said, "24 people to be exact".
"OK, one's just joining the line now, so let's call it 25", I said.
"Now think about it", I continued, "let's say it takes 1 minute to service every customer, so it would take 25 minutes (or 24) for the last customer in line to get to the counter and then they probably have to wait another 5 minutes for their drink, probably more, given that they have so many drinks to churn out"...
"So now tell me, would you be willing to wait 30 minutes for a cup of coffee?"
"I don't know", he said, "but probably not".
Clearly, I wasn't willing to wait that long either which was probably why I was not in that line myself at the Starbucks store in the Walter E Washington Convention Center in D.C. (where the International Science and Engineering Fest was being held) but was sitting on the sidelines, thanks to the sofas I had spotted from the far corner of the lobby.
"Let's put my theory to test", I said. "You see those last customers in the line? The guy in the black t-shirt and the girl in the skirt?"
"Yes, I do", he said.
"I'm going actually to time how long it takes them to get to the counter", I said.
"OK", he said, 'go for it!"
A few minutes later, I found out that I was clearly not in line with the times.
"Where is your phone?", he suddenly said, having paused playing whatever game it was on his iPod. "Why are you not timing it?" he added, noting that my iPhone was lying next to me on the sofa but was not running its Timer App!
I looked at him for a second. "I have a watch (pointing to my wrist) and I have a head", I said.
"OK, OK", he said and went back to playing his game. "Dads these days!", he must have thought to himself.
I spent the next few minutes watching 2 kids playing soccer with a foam ball (they once kicked the ball right into the Starbucks store), 1 lady leave a sofa that was adjacent to us, 2 other ladies join us on the 2 adjacent single seats (as their husbands joined the line at Starbucks) and other pretty ladies join the line for coffee.
Every few minutes, I checked to see where the girl in the skirt was (conveniently for me, the guy in the black t-shirt had left the line to take a phone call) and then checked my watch. I didn't catch her checking her watch at any point, but as she got real close to the counter (3rd or 4th in line) I did notice her little shake and jig. Maybe she just heard the music from the store clearer from where she was, but I preferred to think of it has her victory dance...
"My hypothesis was right", I blurted out! "It took them exactly 25 minutes to get to the counter" I said.
"Wow Dad!", he said, "this is like the 4th or 5th time you've predicted something right this week" (he was referring to some of the scores I had predicted teams batting first would make in the IPL mid-course in their innings).
Allowing myself only a moment to gloat, I quickly turned my attention back to the line. I was surprised by what I saw.
"It seems like people are willing to wait 30 minutes for a cup of Starbucks coffee", I thought to myself. "But do they know that it could be another 30 minutes before they get their coffee when they join that line?" I further ruminated.
"Is the average wait time the same throughout the day? It's surely not the same at all Starbucks stores but do the smart people at Starbucks know how long their customers wait on an average for their coffee? Better still, do they know how long their customers are willing to wait in line?"
"Ten minutes", I told myself! "That's probably all I am willing to wait in line to get a cup of coffee. So when I see more than 9 people in that line, I'm probably not going to join it" I went on, when my phone rang.
"Where are you", she asked?
"We're in the lobby, near the Starbucks store", I said.
"OK, I'll be there in 5 minutes", she said.
I noticed that the line had become shorter. I got up from the sofa and moved towards the store.
"I'm sorry sir! We're closed for the day" the security guard said, as he closed the loop on the adjustable line guides...
"Why are you asking me? I don't even drink coffee", he said.
"I know you don't drink coffee, but see that line there", I said, "do me a favor, can you quickly count and tell me how many people are in that line?"
"Really Dad! Don't you have anything better to do?", he said.
"Come on, be a sport, just count and tell me how many people are in that line", I urged.
"... 21, 22, 23, 24!", he said, "24 people to be exact".
"OK, one's just joining the line now, so let's call it 25", I said.
"Now think about it", I continued, "let's say it takes 1 minute to service every customer, so it would take 25 minutes (or 24) for the last customer in line to get to the counter and then they probably have to wait another 5 minutes for their drink, probably more, given that they have so many drinks to churn out"...
"So now tell me, would you be willing to wait 30 minutes for a cup of coffee?"
"I don't know", he said, "but probably not".
Clearly, I wasn't willing to wait that long either which was probably why I was not in that line myself at the Starbucks store in the Walter E Washington Convention Center in D.C. (where the International Science and Engineering Fest was being held) but was sitting on the sidelines, thanks to the sofas I had spotted from the far corner of the lobby.
"Let's put my theory to test", I said. "You see those last customers in the line? The guy in the black t-shirt and the girl in the skirt?"
"Yes, I do", he said.
"I'm going actually to time how long it takes them to get to the counter", I said.
"OK", he said, 'go for it!"
A few minutes later, I found out that I was clearly not in line with the times.
"Where is your phone?", he suddenly said, having paused playing whatever game it was on his iPod. "Why are you not timing it?" he added, noting that my iPhone was lying next to me on the sofa but was not running its Timer App!
I looked at him for a second. "I have a watch (pointing to my wrist) and I have a head", I said.
"OK, OK", he said and went back to playing his game. "Dads these days!", he must have thought to himself.
I spent the next few minutes watching 2 kids playing soccer with a foam ball (they once kicked the ball right into the Starbucks store), 1 lady leave a sofa that was adjacent to us, 2 other ladies join us on the 2 adjacent single seats (as their husbands joined the line at Starbucks) and other pretty ladies join the line for coffee.
Every few minutes, I checked to see where the girl in the skirt was (conveniently for me, the guy in the black t-shirt had left the line to take a phone call) and then checked my watch. I didn't catch her checking her watch at any point, but as she got real close to the counter (3rd or 4th in line) I did notice her little shake and jig. Maybe she just heard the music from the store clearer from where she was, but I preferred to think of it has her victory dance...
"My hypothesis was right", I blurted out! "It took them exactly 25 minutes to get to the counter" I said.
"Wow Dad!", he said, "this is like the 4th or 5th time you've predicted something right this week" (he was referring to some of the scores I had predicted teams batting first would make in the IPL mid-course in their innings).
Allowing myself only a moment to gloat, I quickly turned my attention back to the line. I was surprised by what I saw.
"It seems like people are willing to wait 30 minutes for a cup of Starbucks coffee", I thought to myself. "But do they know that it could be another 30 minutes before they get their coffee when they join that line?" I further ruminated.
"Is the average wait time the same throughout the day? It's surely not the same at all Starbucks stores but do the smart people at Starbucks know how long their customers wait on an average for their coffee? Better still, do they know how long their customers are willing to wait in line?"
"Ten minutes", I told myself! "That's probably all I am willing to wait in line to get a cup of coffee. So when I see more than 9 people in that line, I'm probably not going to join it" I went on, when my phone rang.
"Where are you", she asked?
"We're in the lobby, near the Starbucks store", I said.
"OK, I'll be there in 5 minutes", she said.
I noticed that the line had become shorter. I got up from the sofa and moved towards the store.
"I'm sorry sir! We're closed for the day" the security guard said, as he closed the loop on the adjustable line guides...
