The line outside of Shake Shack, especially the original flavor at Madison Square Park, is famously long. Way back in 2006 we even offered a few solutions for the dealing with the line. One of them (a webcam) was almost immediately adopted by the burger mecca, and five years later someone went and implemented another of our suggestions. Sort of. While we thought that the line was a great opportunity for some ambitious unemployed people, we guess bloggers have to eat as well?
See, the women at TheGloss apparently work just across the street from Madison Square Park so one day last week they decided to do a little experiment. They sent one editor down the line and then when they were almost ready to order an intern went and asked people at the end of the line what they would pay to be up front. After they named their price, they paid and moved on up. As you can see in the below video, TheGloss ladies "came out of this exercise with delicious burgers and shakes. And enough spare cash to feed a small group of friends."
We've reached out to Union Square Hospitality Group, which runs Shake Shack, to find out how they feel about line squatters making money off of their customers, but have yet to hear back. We can't imagine they are too upset about it, though—they get paid either way.
