Meatspace

Ugh. Every time I run an errand in the real world, it ends up taking much, much longer than it should. Examples:

• Not too long ago, I had to go to the post office, where I waited forever behind a woman who was clearly a close---and talkative---friend of the postchick wamaning the desk.
• More recently, I ran into the grocery store on the way to work to pick up some barform---my mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks. Due to (a) the Poisson distribution of people arriving at the check-out line and (b) some problem with one customer's out-checking, it took excessively long to get out of the store.
  
• Just yesterday, I stopped at the animal hospital to pick up some meds for Newton. The vet techs couldn't find the prepared package after 10 minutes of searching, because, it turned out, it had been assembled at the other location.
  

This is why, if I don't need something right now, I much prefer to buy it online. Sure, the total time required for the purchase is much longer, but the time spent on it is much reduced