[harrison_clarke]

in the case of drink orders, there's a slight benefit to ordering something unique (at least unique within the queue you're standing in). you don't have to remember your place in line, or negotiate with someone else about who was there first

the space of possible drink orders isn't so large that you'll be collision-free by default (like UUIDs), so there's some incentive to guess what other people will order, and adjust your order to avoid collisions

[thaumasiotes]

> in the case of drink orders, there's a slight benefit to ordering something unique (at least unique within the queue you're standing in). you don't have to remember your place in line, or negotiate with someone else about who was there first

A normally-functioning vendor would call out the completed order by order number, so this problem just can't arise. You can't take someone else's order identical to yours any more than you can take someone else's order for ten times as much food as you purchased.

[harrison_clarke]

i don't think i've ever seen a cafe do that (unless you count mcdonald's as a cafe). even the starbuck's thing of using your name is rare, but others have picked it up

most cafes i've been in, the queue is usually short enough that the barista knows who ordered what. at peak times, they can't keep track of it, though, so the customers keep track themselves and it usually works well enough that nobody is going to optimize it

[Suppafly]

> at peak times, they can't keep track of it

They usually have FIFO system anyway, so even if everyone was ordering the same thing, it wouldn't matter. I suppose a situation where you have multiple baristas and some work faster than others or some people have simpler orders might force customers to keep track though.

[brookst]

“I have a flat white for Steve” is comedy gold at a crowded starbucks.