Justice. Sweet Justice.
Please be forewarned: This is a VENTING post. I’m venting and preaching at the same time. If you’re not in the mood, go elsewhere. BUT, you might learn something. Ha!
Yesterday I needed to run by Sam’s (no surprise there, right?). Lane was with me and I had everything on my list. We were singing and laughing and having a good time. Granted, it was 5:00 and I was SO ready to get home, but I have a somewhat new outlook on ‘rushing’. I made it to the front of the store and tried to find a good line (btw: Ryan is not allowed to pick out lines for us anymore. He has an unnatural gift of picking the lines that look short, but they turn out to be the people buying that ONE item that is missing a barcode or the cash register gets locked up or they don’t understand their coupon…which Ryan himself finally has to step forward and explain…btw, that Sam’s coupon? You still have to pay tax on the full amount.).
I found a line that looked good and made my way there. As I was waiting in line, I noticed a sweet little lady checking out next to us. She was buying grapes and strawberries. She was short, thin, and had brown curly hair. And she was a little slow. Then I noticed the dude behind her. Apparently, he was in a hurry and decided that she was taking way too much time. He turned his cart around and headed to another line, in such a rush that he literally almost ran into another lady making her way to a line. I watched him (with a wrinkle in my forehead) and saw the ‘almost victim’ give him a look that said, “Really? You’re going to fly right in front of me and not even say anything?” And this guy wasn’t young and stupid. He was probably in his late-thirties to mid-forties. He looked like a normal Joe. He looked like he should have had better manners.
My little lady, we’ll call her Ms. Strawberries, had just finished checking out and was trying to put everything back in her purse. The cashier looked at me and said that she could take me next even though I was in a different line (no one was behind Ms. Strawberries). But…Ms. Strawberries was still putting things away. She looked at me and said, “I’m sorry I’m so slow. I’ll be out of your way in just a bit.”
Now this gets me to my point. (Ahem…here comes the preaching.)
She wasn’t in my way.
Even if she was, she was fine.
It was okay.
Someone once taught me to always give the ‘elders’ their time and their space. If they’re moving slow entering the grocery store, don’t speed around them and be a jerk. Give them time and give them room. Be respectful. Be kind. They were once young and spunky like us and they’ve been around, they’ve seen a lot, and they’ve done a lot. They deserve extra time and extra space…and that’s just something I’ve always believed in. YES, sometimes it’s hard and sometimes it’s frustrating. But…it’s something I believe we should do.
My Granny was once driving down the road and was doing only 40 mph in a 45 mph (heaven forbid!) and some guy flipped her a bird as he sped around her. Seriously? Have we become so consumed with getting there, and getting there fast, that we’ve forgotten how to actually be nice?
Okay…back to my story. Ms. Strawberries was still packing up her card and money into her purse and trying to balance her strawberries and grapes in her arms (no buggy) and she kept looking back at me and apologizing. I told her we all had all the time in the world and that she wasn’t in anyone’s way. The cashier then went and got her a small box and asked if that would help. She apologized again for taking so long. I said, “No ma’am! You. Are. Fine. I promise. I’ve got no where to be. You take all the time you need.” Once she got her box assembled and headed to the door, I then moved forward to get checked out.
I made it to the car, piled everything in, (by the way, the receipt checker lady said, “Awww!!! I just love getting to watch him grow up!” and I told myself, ‘We make way too many trips here.’), buckled Lane in his seat, and got in my own seat. As I was pulling out of the parking spot I saw Mr. I’m-too-busy-to-give-Ms.-Strawberries-any-extra-grace. He saw me and, it was obvious, realized that his line jumping had not paid off. Justice. Sweet justice.
And please don't think I'm sticking a feather in my hat because I was nice to Ms. Strawberries and he wasn't. I only want to encourage you to have a little more patience with the 'old folks'. Yes, it seems so simple, but dang...it just burns me up when I see people being that rude.
Dear Mr. I’m-too-busy-to-give-Ms.-Strawberries-any-extra-grace,
Maybe next time you’re in line, you might find it possible to give those older than you a little extra time and patience. I’m not saying you have to kiss their Reebok-Princess donned feet. All I’m saying is that it might be nice for you to be nice. They’re people, too. They may be slow, confused by today’s technology (honestly, haven’t you gotten confused just once by all the different styles of credit card swipers?), or maybe even grumpy. Just be nice (you’re a guy, don’t you know this was Dalton’s motto?). It’s not that much effort and it costs you nothing…maybe a few extra seconds…or, as we saw yesterday, maybe not. And too, you might be there one day. One day when you're old (and you realize how stupid those pointy shoes looked) you might be running a little slow in the checkout line and appreciate a 'take all the time you need' offer.
Just a thought.
Sincerely,
Ms. Lady-with-the-Cheeky-Baby-that-(hopefully)-made-Ms.-Strawberries-feel-a-little-better
ps: Also? Lay off the hair gel. You could hurt someone with those spike-y spikes.
Yesterday I needed to run by Sam’s (no surprise there, right?). Lane was with me and I had everything on my list. We were singing and laughing and having a good time. Granted, it was 5:00 and I was SO ready to get home, but I have a somewhat new outlook on ‘rushing’. I made it to the front of the store and tried to find a good line (btw: Ryan is not allowed to pick out lines for us anymore. He has an unnatural gift of picking the lines that look short, but they turn out to be the people buying that ONE item that is missing a barcode or the cash register gets locked up or they don’t understand their coupon…which Ryan himself finally has to step forward and explain…btw, that Sam’s coupon? You still have to pay tax on the full amount.).
I found a line that looked good and made my way there. As I was waiting in line, I noticed a sweet little lady checking out next to us. She was buying grapes and strawberries. She was short, thin, and had brown curly hair. And she was a little slow. Then I noticed the dude behind her. Apparently, he was in a hurry and decided that she was taking way too much time. He turned his cart around and headed to another line, in such a rush that he literally almost ran into another lady making her way to a line. I watched him (with a wrinkle in my forehead) and saw the ‘almost victim’ give him a look that said, “Really? You’re going to fly right in front of me and not even say anything?” And this guy wasn’t young and stupid. He was probably in his late-thirties to mid-forties. He looked like a normal Joe. He looked like he should have had better manners.
My little lady, we’ll call her Ms. Strawberries, had just finished checking out and was trying to put everything back in her purse. The cashier looked at me and said that she could take me next even though I was in a different line (no one was behind Ms. Strawberries). But…Ms. Strawberries was still putting things away. She looked at me and said, “I’m sorry I’m so slow. I’ll be out of your way in just a bit.”
Now this gets me to my point. (Ahem…here comes the preaching.)
She wasn’t in my way.
Even if she was, she was fine.
It was okay.
Someone once taught me to always give the ‘elders’ their time and their space. If they’re moving slow entering the grocery store, don’t speed around them and be a jerk. Give them time and give them room. Be respectful. Be kind. They were once young and spunky like us and they’ve been around, they’ve seen a lot, and they’ve done a lot. They deserve extra time and extra space…and that’s just something I’ve always believed in. YES, sometimes it’s hard and sometimes it’s frustrating. But…it’s something I believe we should do.
My Granny was once driving down the road and was doing only 40 mph in a 45 mph (heaven forbid!) and some guy flipped her a bird as he sped around her. Seriously? Have we become so consumed with getting there, and getting there fast, that we’ve forgotten how to actually be nice?
Okay…back to my story. Ms. Strawberries was still packing up her card and money into her purse and trying to balance her strawberries and grapes in her arms (no buggy) and she kept looking back at me and apologizing. I told her we all had all the time in the world and that she wasn’t in anyone’s way. The cashier then went and got her a small box and asked if that would help. She apologized again for taking so long. I said, “No ma’am! You. Are. Fine. I promise. I’ve got no where to be. You take all the time you need.” Once she got her box assembled and headed to the door, I then moved forward to get checked out.
I made it to the car, piled everything in, (by the way, the receipt checker lady said, “Awww!!! I just love getting to watch him grow up!” and I told myself, ‘We make way too many trips here.’), buckled Lane in his seat, and got in my own seat. As I was pulling out of the parking spot I saw Mr. I’m-too-busy-to-give-Ms.-Strawberries-any-extra-grace. He saw me and, it was obvious, realized that his line jumping had not paid off. Justice. Sweet justice.
And please don't think I'm sticking a feather in my hat because I was nice to Ms. Strawberries and he wasn't. I only want to encourage you to have a little more patience with the 'old folks'. Yes, it seems so simple, but dang...it just burns me up when I see people being that rude.
Dear Mr. I’m-too-busy-to-give-Ms.-Strawberries-any-extra-grace,
Maybe next time you’re in line, you might find it possible to give those older than you a little extra time and patience. I’m not saying you have to kiss their Reebok-Princess donned feet. All I’m saying is that it might be nice for you to be nice. They’re people, too. They may be slow, confused by today’s technology (honestly, haven’t you gotten confused just once by all the different styles of credit card swipers?), or maybe even grumpy. Just be nice (you’re a guy, don’t you know this was Dalton’s motto?). It’s not that much effort and it costs you nothing…maybe a few extra seconds…or, as we saw yesterday, maybe not. And too, you might be there one day. One day when you're old (and you realize how stupid those pointy shoes looked) you might be running a little slow in the checkout line and appreciate a 'take all the time you need' offer.
Just a thought.
Sincerely,
Ms. Lady-with-the-Cheeky-Baby-that-(hopefully)-made-Ms.-Strawberries-feel-a-little-better
ps: Also? Lay off the hair gel. You could hurt someone with those spike-y spikes.
Comments