Whilst waiting for my turn to order on a local subs restaurant, I saw something familiar. I was watching Big O live and in action. There were two cashiers. Each

Whilst waiting for my turn to order on a local subs restaurant, I saw something familiar. I was watching Big O live and in action. There were two cashiers. Each one greeted the customer differently. The lady on the right was faster, because she would ask yes or no questions. Then she would ask for payment type up front and prepare the ATM/credit card terminal in advance if the client said ATM/CC. The other cashier would just ask random questions in no particular order, and would wait until the last minute to prepare everything for the payment part of the transaction. She never had the pen at hand. Ever. Two people. Same training ( I assume ), and two vastly different algorithms operating for the same goal. Imagine if a computer would take in the order. It would closely match the lady on the left POS terminal. She was as close as a computer anyway. Her routine went a bit like this: (start transaction (greeting (choose sub type (type of bread (white or wheat) (any deviation from the STD ingredients) (? combo meal)) (? change chips for cookie) (? change soda for bottled water) (type of payment (prepare pen & adjust terminal) (? ATM (get card ( swipe ( punch in numbers ( ? accepted || declined (goto start <-- ) give customer card back ))))) (end transaction))) I just realized how lispy this came out to be. :)