Casual Essay
The “Express” Lane
The English language is a funny thing isn’t it? How we can say one thing and the meaning behind it makes perfect sense to the person who said it. However, the reality is that the meaning could be something completely different than what the author wanted the reader to think. These differences can cause conflict and argument if both sides are not clear on the real meaning of the words or phrases used. I have found a very good example of this in action at my work.
At the end of last year our wash went under some major renovations and one of those renovations was the installation of an “express” lane. To understand the confusion of a situation, you have to know what it was like before. In this case a normal carwash. More specifically, how the cars are brought in and lined up for the wash. Before, there were two lanes that cars could drive into, lining up side by side no matter what different kind of carwash the customer wanted. All the washes, inside and out or just the outside went through the same two lanes and the flow of traffic was smooth. However, with this new installation of the “express” lane, this flow and organization was turned upside down.
Now, instead of having these two lanes for all the different washes we now have one lane specifically for only outside washes (express lane) and one for the inside and out washes (full service lane). This may not seem to be a big deal but our store is the busiest in the company west of the Mississippi river. We have the most volume of cars in the state by a huge difference. The majority of which are inside and out washes. Thus, this line is usually the longest leaving the “express” lane usually open. With lines come people that want to cut in these lines or look for a way to get around these lines.
When people drive up to the wash and they see this massive line to get in they automatically look for an alternative to waiting. This alternative usually ends up as attempting to go
The English language is a funny thing isn’t it? How we can say one thing and the meaning behind it makes perfect sense to the person who said it. However, the reality is that the meaning could be something completely different than what the author wanted the reader to think. These differences can cause conflict and argument if both sides are not clear on the real meaning of the words or phrases used. I have found a very good example of this in action at my work.
At the end of last year our wash went under some major renovations and one of those renovations was the installation of an “express” lane. To understand the confusion of a situation, you have to know what it was like before. In this case a normal carwash. More specifically, how the cars are brought in and lined up for the wash. Before, there were two lanes that cars could drive into, lining up side by side no matter what different kind of carwash the customer wanted. All the washes, inside and out or just the outside went through the same two lanes and the flow of traffic was smooth. However, with this new installation of the “express” lane, this flow and organization was turned upside down.
Now, instead of having these two lanes for all the different washes we now have one lane specifically for only outside washes (express lane) and one for the inside and out washes (full service lane). This may not seem to be a big deal but our store is the busiest in the company west of the Mississippi river. We have the most volume of cars in the state by a huge difference. The majority of which are inside and out washes. Thus, this line is usually the longest leaving the “express” lane usually open. With lines come people that want to cut in these lines or look for a way to get around these lines.
When people drive up to the wash and they see this massive line to get in they automatically look for an alternative to waiting. This alternative usually ends up as attempting to go