I hurried my shopping cart to
the express check out – still shopping, adding a small bag of Corn Curls and a packet
of chewing gum conveniently displayed to get my attention.
Having completed my pre-Thanksgiving
shopping several days ago, this particular day, I walked into Stop and Shop for 3 items,
yet I had many more in my basket. Moving everything onto the conveyer belt, it
seemed I might have more than the Express Lanes 12 item limit. I admitted as
much to the cashier who pleasantly responded with a shrugged, “don’t worry,
you’re fine."
I had three more than the limit. “My impulse shopping got out of control,” I
apologized, hopeful those waiting behind me were okay with it. They were.
The cashier softly complained about shoppers
being impatient and mean. “It’s not
necessary.”
My thinking, she may be right
but we all need to practice being considerate of others. Express lane anxiety is understandable. You’ve
dashed to the store to buy a few things, planning to get in and get out. When a self-absorbed person, cart overloaded
for that lane, tramples on your expectations, it isn’t easy to ignore.
“People have stuff going on,” I wanted to say
but didn’t. We don’t know the burden
another carries. That thought has impressed me since the time I
realized my driving slowly, barely at the speed limit, heading to work one
morning seemed as if I had no regard for others trying to get to work. Drivers accelerated and passed, giving me
dirty looks.
But, I was dealing with a
personal issue that had wrecked my world. My son, a teenager, was hospitalized with a
sickle cell crisis and pneumonia that kept him in intensive care. He had stabilized and I decided I could go
into my office for a few hours. Darin
and his recovery were heavy on my mind. The
anxious drivers broke me out of my selfish mindset. But they didn’t know my troubles.
That’s when the realization
touched my mind that I had been like that many times, at least feeling as angry
as those drivers looked and acted. Someone unnecessarily impeded my progress. My attitude let them know. Not good.
I could do better. In the future I would remember I didn’t have to
add to another person’s stress, whether family, friend or stranger.
