You are kidnapped and dropped off in one of these stores with all name brands removed. Can you tell which one you are in?

I believe all of these stores are too similar and would never invest in any of them for that reason and also there are just wayyyyy to many of them. If I see a CVS next to a duane reede, my only incentive to goto one over the other is which one is physically closer to me at the given moment. These companies are expanding way to quickly, in the last 3 years within a 5 mile radius of my house there has been a CVS, Walgreens and Duane Reade opening and the CVS that opened there was one already 2 miles away from the next closet CVS.

THE PROBLEM

The LIRR has a section of seats in each car that are 3 seats facing one another (see diagram to right). I always aim to sit in these set of seats due to the fact that I’m 6’5 and sitting in the regular seats hardly offers me enough leg room to sit comfortably for an hour long train ride. Of course this only works in my favor if no one sits across from me. If they do, I gain nothing from this seat and in fact I’m no better off than I would have been sitting in a seat with my knees in the back of the seat in front of me. This fails in every situation a person sits across from me no matter how old they are. I’ve calculated the only way this could work out is if the person were to have no legs at all.

Situation:
You have 5 minutes to make your train. You are about to enter Penn Station and you are presented with the stairs on one side and 2 escalators going down on the other. Which is faster?

Optimal solution:
The left hand side of the escalator , when sane people are riding it, is reserved for those who choose to maximize the escalator by walking down it. You fly down that sucker , lickity split, no shit. Blowing past people on the stairs, you scurry off and make your train.