Don't be
what you hate.
Yesterday started off okay. Not too sore from karate on Saturday. Matt was up and doing his chores. Got my laundry started and it was going (his goes on Saturday usually). Went to the store to get some things I needed, some groceries and some stuff. Decided to go to the big wal mart to get both at once (needed a web cam to test out the Jeff-gaming-from-Hawaii thing).
Got everything plus a few things I forgot and was waiting in line at the self-serve checkout. Saw one open lane next to it. Apparently it had a "cash only" sign which I failed to see. However I didn't find that out until I had scanned all the stuff. And two seconds after I got there and started some bozo came up behind me and put all his stuff on the little metal shelf right next to me (while I pulled my stuff out of the cart). It struck me as a bit rude but I had work to do so I didn't pay it much attention.
Got it all scanned and then went to pay and pulled out the debit card. I didn't hear him get all huffy until I was at the checkout terminal. He loudly (and rudely) pointed out it was a cash only lane and pulled the sign off to show me. I raised my hand to get the attention of the attendant but he waved the sign in the air and hollared. She came over after fixing something else for someone and got it transferred to her checkout and I paid.
It was (of course) a bit humiliating since I often pride myself on paying attention to detail, to what's going on around me. But as I walked out to the car and decided that perhaps I should have gotten in that guys face and pointed out how much of a rude, abusive jerk he was being, I realized that I was him.
I can't count the number of times I've been in line behind someone who doesn't know how to work whatever in front of me. How to scan their credit/debit card into the little scanner. Or is writing a check as slowly as molassas. Or is somehow being a detriment to my getting out of this big group of people and on my way. Now I have never been rude or verbally abusive to these people in line in front of me but I have made use of the "heavy sigh" and I don't doubt that the annoyance has exuded from me in palpable waves as I stand there behind them not-so-patiently waiting my turn.
So I decided that I must not be that guy. While life is, indeed, to short to spend it all waiting in line, being unhappy about it can only make it worse. Making other people unhappy about it is bad karma.
And on a totally different note, read
The Secret Letter From Iraq
and ponder on some of the things this marine has seen.
Oh, and I bought some blearb at the store, only to discover that I had an extra bottle in the garage and Matt didn't know to look. So now we have a whole lot of blearb in the house (just in case you need to borrow some).
Yesterday started off okay. Not too sore from karate on Saturday. Matt was up and doing his chores. Got my laundry started and it was going (his goes on Saturday usually). Went to the store to get some things I needed, some groceries and some stuff. Decided to go to the big wal mart to get both at once (needed a web cam to test out the Jeff-gaming-from-Hawaii thing).
Got everything plus a few things I forgot and was waiting in line at the self-serve checkout. Saw one open lane next to it. Apparently it had a "cash only" sign which I failed to see. However I didn't find that out until I had scanned all the stuff. And two seconds after I got there and started some bozo came up behind me and put all his stuff on the little metal shelf right next to me (while I pulled my stuff out of the cart). It struck me as a bit rude but I had work to do so I didn't pay it much attention.
Got it all scanned and then went to pay and pulled out the debit card. I didn't hear him get all huffy until I was at the checkout terminal. He loudly (and rudely) pointed out it was a cash only lane and pulled the sign off to show me. I raised my hand to get the attention of the attendant but he waved the sign in the air and hollared. She came over after fixing something else for someone and got it transferred to her checkout and I paid.
It was (of course) a bit humiliating since I often pride myself on paying attention to detail, to what's going on around me. But as I walked out to the car and decided that perhaps I should have gotten in that guys face and pointed out how much of a rude, abusive jerk he was being, I realized that I was him.
I can't count the number of times I've been in line behind someone who doesn't know how to work whatever in front of me. How to scan their credit/debit card into the little scanner. Or is writing a check as slowly as molassas. Or is somehow being a detriment to my getting out of this big group of people and on my way. Now I have never been rude or verbally abusive to these people in line in front of me but I have made use of the "heavy sigh" and I don't doubt that the annoyance has exuded from me in palpable waves as I stand there behind them not-so-patiently waiting my turn.
So I decided that I must not be that guy. While life is, indeed, to short to spend it all waiting in line, being unhappy about it can only make it worse. Making other people unhappy about it is bad karma.
And on a totally different note, read
The Secret Letter From Iraq
and ponder on some of the things this marine has seen.
Oh, and I bought some blearb at the store, only to discover that I had an extra bottle in the garage and Matt didn't know to look. So now we have a whole lot of blearb in the house (just in case you need to borrow some).
posted by banzai at 13:40
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