Last week I was standing on line at Home Depot.
It was the middle of the day. There was one cashier open and the line was over five deep.
At the cashier’s there was a bottleneck. A question had come up about price, and a manager had been summoned. Customer and cashier were chatting amicably while they waited.
Next in line, and waiting, was a woman, her cart brimming with stuff.
I stood behind her, with one item — an extension cord — in my hand.
I went from surveying the situation to accepting the situation. To not accepting the situation.
After that, my impatience prevailed and I marched up to the cashier; interrupted their têt-à-têt; and gruffly requested that a second cashier be opened so that those of us who had a life, might return to it, pronto.
Now the next-in-line gal piped in.
Here was a woman clearly well-practiced in the art of defusing petulant 4-year olds.
She nicely reminded me that all stores are short-handed these days. She then offered to let me go ahead of her.
I felt embarrassed and delighted at once. I thanked her for keeping her wits and not contributing to my bad temper.
She said she’s not that way every day. I told her I was glad I caught her on a good day. We laughed and chatted until it was time for me to pay for the extension cord.
As I left I blurted out to her, “Thanks for your kindness!”
I then returned to my life, pronto.