I agree honestly. I’ve gone through the exact process op has described several times now and flew even more before the process started.
I think the lines are worse than they used to be. I have not seen the scan improve anything. The only time I’ve seen things move slower for me is recently the agent hadn’t done an opt out in a while and had to remember how to do it. The TSA precheck line I was in did not have opt out signs posted. I just politely asked anyways (and they did comply).
I had a similar situation happen with customs where the guy was confused by my request and hadn’t done one it the old way in a while but honored it without argument.
I echo the suggestion to support local shops, but I do occasionally go with a larger chain… It’s not better pizza than the local shops it’s just a different pizza.
I tend to prefer Domino’s over Pizza Hut and especially over Papa John’s (something about their formulation tends to upset my stomach way more than any other pizza… Plus the former CEO is very active in politics and not in a way I approve of).
To my Domino’s tastes significantly better … Pizza Hut used to be great, but I’ve been thoroughly unimpressed every time I’ve tried it in recent memory.
There’s also local variance in these chains; some towns have a better Pizza Hut than Domino’s 🤷♂️