The woman in line behind me muttered pointedly, direct and somewhat sharp, “Excuse me, but are you going to order separately from your friend?”
One of the representatives blinked at me silently as I rattled off my order without pause, “Sorry, please give me a garlic pretzel with sweet mustard dip, an original pretzel with cheese dip, one bottle of water, and a pretzel kit.”
The cashier’s eyes grew wide, as though I said, “Give me your entire stock, add any leftover ingredients, charge my credit card, and give some help to carry the lot to our awaiting automobile.”
Still dumbfounded, he asked, “What did you have again?”
I repeated myself (and I hate repeating myself – something borne from many repetitions throughout life by speaking softly, often too quietly for others to hear or comprehend without a second listen). I passed him the credit card. I gathered up the items clumsily.
“Would you like a bag?” the cashier mumbled, his eyes trained on the increasing line behind us.
“No, that’s all right,” I responded, holding my order in a small bundle.
My friend and I walked outside. The rain fell lightly. We talked about rude people and manners and ultimately, the pointlessness of even feeling annoyed; our shopping trip contained several interactions with others that left some manners desired.
“My degree pretty much burned empathy and patience into me,” I grunted as two egocentric customers cut us in line and argued the legitimacy of their action.
“Well, my career requires patience too, but forget it – I don’t have time for this nonsense and those people aren’t your clients,” she replied, glaring at their backs as they approached the cash register.
One has to learn the dividing line between being walked on and choosing actively to not pursue a meaningless battle.
A customer behind us protested to her husband, “They are unbelievable! That’s not fair!”
Well, lesson of the day – sometimes, people are irrational or selfish, or downright ignorant. Sometimes, you will not approve of others’ choices, but you always have the power to control your reaction; permitting yourself to get overly emotional or irate over minor events only serves to give power to the wrongful party, anyway.
I would rather ignore the little speed bumps in life, put on the brakes before I ever enabled myself to lose control. Why should I be upset? I have Auntie Anne’s pretzels to make this weekend.
