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I think if you go often enough and around the same time, you do get to know who the different people are. I don't really choose lanes this way, though, unless the lines are the same length. Often, I just try to go to the shortest line.

I prefer self-checkout. When it's not an option, I'll pick a shorter queue, I guess. I also usually bag my groceries myself anyway.

At one of the supermarkets I frequent, I actually am familiar with cashiers (it's the one without the self-checkout option:-)), but not to the point where I prefer one to another really.

i hate self-checkout...it made me realize that either checking out is harder than it looks or those self-scan machines suck. i always get these messages that item wasn't placed in the bag, etc. anyways, i just pick a line based on how long it is and how much stuff the people in line have.

At my local grocery store there was a checker whom I got to know pretty well, who was very friendly and nice to me and my boy, and got people through the lines faster than anyone else. He even gave my son his old name tag (they share the same name) so he could wear it whenever we came to the store. We always went to his line, especially once my son was old enough to whine about it ("I want to go to Jared's line!"). He moved on to bigger and better things though.

There are a couple people I avoid. One lady who's always in a bad mood, and one guy who really tries to be nice but talks so fast I'm always asking him to repeat himself.

I live in a small town.

I actually go out of my way to avoid one checkout person...the rude one who holds the things I buy up and says "EWWW...what do you do with this?". She obviously didn't get a copy of the "checkout person etiquette" pamphlet they hand out at new hire orientation.

I really try to avoid the self-check most of the time. It's another way to eliminate workers' jobs. I do occasionally find there are checkers I avoid, mostly because they're long-winded and want to chat with Mr. Meatloaf about topics they're both interested in. But generally, it's shortest line factored with emptiest carts.

My supermarket started a new thing where you walk around with a hand-held scanner and you scan and bag as you shop. At the end your order gets transferred to a register, you pay and you're out. It adds an interesting computer-game feel to the whole experience and takes the check out person out of the loop.

I tend to bounce from one market to the other so I don't know or have a favorite checker. I also hate the self check. First it takes me too long, and it is always asking for an attendant. Second it is taking away the jobs of people who work there. Third if I have to check my own groceries and pack them then they should have real big discounts for the self checking stations.

AMEN Luna! If i have to check it out and bag it myself I want a discount!

@Jerzee: You scare me some days! If I ever had to go to the mall at Christmas, I'd want you running interference for me though!

There are one or two I avoid for being too chatty; there are definitely baggers I avoid, but I can usually tell them nicely to "go away, please"; I don't mind waiting in line most days; the only time I really pick and choose is when I have alcohol: I try to choose a checker who does not have to call someone to scan it. I hate holding up the people behind me for that. Same with cigarettes (I know, I am trying to quit): I never go to the 15 or less line if I want them....it slows down the people behind me while they go to fetch them.

if i have coupons, i know who to go to and who to stay away from. some cashiers act like the money i save via coupons is coming out of their pockets and give me a hard time.

@Cass - finally, somebody else likes self-checkout! I'm slightly puzzled by all the self-checkout hatred - I'm significantly more efficient, and that's already a discount as far as I'm concerned. I rarely run into problems with the machines, and even if I do (once in a blue moon, really), I always get immediate assistance as there is an attendant monitoring self-checkout stations (sometimes through a computer, sometimes just standing by). Then again, I usually prefer doing things myself and frankly, suck at delegating. Not saying it's necessarily a good thing, but that's the way it is.

I usually try to avoid certain baggers--the ones who just can't understand the concept that I brought my own bags and I don't want plastic. The bags are washable and most stuff is already packaged once, no need to do it again. And if it's large and comes with a handle--who needs a bag? And when I don't remember my bags, please listen to me when I say "Fill the bags up". Nothing makes me crazier than finding one item in a plastic bag!
Really, I would prefer to pack it myself. At least that way I could make sure the heavy stuff was on the bottom and distributed between all the bags.

I use self-checkout from time to time but if you have a lot of stuff it doesn't allow you to repack etc.

I'm just cranky

I weight my decision in this order, with the first consideration in the list given the most weight:

1) number of people in line
2) quick judgment of apparent speed of cashier and whether he/she is attempting to work while simultaneously chatting with another employee
3) the number of items currently on the belt and number of items in the carts of the next person(s) in line
4) lines in which I see people holding coupons (I hate coupons--slows the whole process down)
5) lines in which I see elderly people (they tend to move slowly in transferring items from their carts to the belt and in paying)
6) the number of men versus women in the line (I apologize for the generalization, but it has been my observation that for some reason women tend to pay with checks more often than men; checks slow the process down; paying with cash or a card moves things along faster for you and those behind you)
7) lines in which I see people who look like they might pay with foodstamps--and there are plenty in my neighborhood (again, this takes longer than paying with cash or card)

Okay....I worked my way through college checking groceries at Safeway and my dad retired from the company---disclaimer out of the way. I really hate self checkout, I don't like that it takes jobs from people (maybe someone working their way thru college), plus if I have to put it away at home, I don't want to be bagging it at the store. The only time I use self checkout is when my 16 year old son is with me because he does it all....I just stand and wait to swipe the ATM.

I choose my lines by which checker is behind the register. Even if I am in a hurry, I wait for my favorite...why? Just because I like a friendly face.

Oh and my other thing....once I am in a line, I never get out....odds are that if I move my wait will triple.

Oh that's just waaay to complicated. I just go for the shortest line with someone who looks like they won't be writing a check.... Plus I love catching the computer mistakes, like when a thing's advertised at a lower price than it appears on the register. Oh yeah believe me it happens all the time especially at HEB.....keep yer eyes peeld.

As for self-checkout? Waaay trop de travail pour moi!

I get in the line that looks like it will get me out the fastest. I hate self check out lines. I prefer human interaction. To decide the fastest way out, I factor in several things.

How many carts are in the line.
How many woman vs. men, as men tend to get less and get out faster.
How many elderly people are in line, and how much they have. Sometimes their just as fast as men

I stand in the line of female checkers! Tend to be more gentle with my groceries. Also if I can find a line with a female checker and a female bagger that's even better. Not sure why I'm biased but its' just my observation.

There's one checker I'll avoid--she's known in the 'hood as a nutcase.
She worked for my wife at one point and got herself fired for being rude to the customers--she won't acknowledge that she recognizes us at all, which, I suppose is a good thing.
Otherwise I >do The baggers all seem to be handicapped, mentally and/or physically. It's good of the co. to give them the work.

I just pick the shortest line and that's about it.

I usually shop at the same 2 stores so I'm pretty familiar with who's speedy and who's a slacker on the register. There is one cashier at our local Kroger who has been permanently assigned to U-Scan. She's so manic that she scared the crap out of everyone with the way she grabbed at the groceries coming down the conveyor. I never use U-Scan (hate it with a passion) so fortunately I don't have to deal with her. You can still hear her througout the store though-She's got a thing for telling people she'll 'be right with them, thanks for waiting' about a hundred times in a row at a pitch only dogs should be able to hear.

Having worked as a cashier in my capricious youth, I try very hard to be nice to all cashiers. Some are just too crabby for my uber niceness to penetrate their carapace of crankiness.
My husband actively hates the self checkout. He calls them HAL. I think it is the fact that they talk that gives him the willies.

I shop at Aldi almost exclusively, so by definition I bag (well, box) my own groceries. And the lines are always long there on Saturday, so I pick by shortest line.

I generally bring my grocery assistant (AKA my 17 yo son), so I don't have to do a lot anyway, but when I go by myself it's still easier than trying to get the bag persons to separate the stuff the way I like it. And yeah, big things with handles like gallons of milk -- why would someone EVER put that in a bag???

I avoid the grocery store at all costs. Farmer's Market for me as often as possible. And yes, I do have my favorites there. I choose the lady who offeres me samples over the surly man who doesn't customers examining what they buy. Or the woman who will recycle my egg cartons over the one who won't.

When I do have to go to the grocery store, I avoid self-checkout (this is not the time to be elimination jobs. Besides - part of the price of the groceries goes toward paying people to help me shop. If you want me to use self-checkout, lower your prices. Otherwise, if I have to pay for employees, I'm sure as hell going to use them). I don't know any of the cashiers, so I choose using a "speed/fullness of basket/liklihood of people in front of me to write a check" formula.

I don't understand why self-check aisles are built large enough to accommodate a shopping cart. I'll never understand the people who attempt to self-check a fully-loaded cart. If I can't carry everything I want to buy in a single basket, I won't use the self-check. And if you can't, get the hell out of my way.

I go for the shortest line myself. I used to be a cashier, people told me they come and look for me because of my bagging skills and speed.

At certain stores I definitely know whose line to get on and whose to avoid. I know this is going to sound stereotypically pro-NY but in FL the best checkers are garishly made up former NYers - From Brooklyn.

I'm also the shortest-line chooser.
I also avoid the creepy-casheir who gives me "the look" (shudder)