> Europeans
> and South Americans tend to walk to the stores every day and buy only the
> stuff they need that day. US-sers tend o drive there from the bowels of the
> suburbs once or twice a week and hoard stuff for longer time periods. The
> volume of stuff that need to be moved throughout the scanners and into the
> bellies to the suburban SUVs may indeed requite the extra flexibility that
> you mention.
>
> I like that explanation - it is materialistic and does not rely on culture
> and psychological preferences.
Unfortunately it doesn't work. Ireland is like the US in this regard (minus the SUVs) and the cashiers still do not need to stand.