The other day, I had to run to the store just to get a few little things, ya know - one of those run in/run out kind of trips. After rushing up and down the aisles, I approach the checkout lines , doing a quick scan, looking to see which is the shortest . . .(who wants to wait in a long line?). Then, I jump in line behind an older couple that were just about done checking out.
At that point, I'm pretty sure I scored the best spot and breathe a sigh of relief. I unload my stuff onto the checkout stand/conveyer belt-thing (what is that called?) and start mentally planning out the rest of my evening. Suddenly, I realize that this "perfect line" I chose is not moving as quickly as I had thought. I look toward the couple and realize the woman is writing out a check. I kind of smile to myself and think, "Aw, that's sweet; she's still writing checks instead of using a card." My mind begins to wonder again for who knows how long, when I again think - WOW, this is taking a really long time. I look around at the other lines and see people checking out and walking away . . . and my attention snaps back to the couple in front of me. This woman STILL has her checkbook open . . . I hear the cashier say something about the price, to which the woman responds, "I'm writing it for $30 over." The cashier begins correcting whatever she had put in the system while the woman watches to make sure it's corrected. My "aw" smile is now not a smile. I'd like to believe I'm not scowling yet, but I'm sure I look entirely bored. A few minutes later, this woman is STILL writing in her checkbook and it dawns on me that she is putting the check total into her check register and balancing her checkbook (or something like that .... I'm not entirely sure what she was writing, but what else could it be? She was writing FOREVER!) Ok; NOW I'm getting a bit agitated . . . I mean, I felt like I had been waiting for a good 10 minutes. I'm sure I'm scowling by this point. The cashier hand the woman a receipt, which the woman must sign in order to get her cash. She wrote so slowly; apparently dotting every single "I" and crossing every single T was of the utmost importance that evening. Once she hands the receipt back to the cashier, the cashier takes that and the check and runs it through the register. Then, she says, "Here is your receipt and your check." And I'm not sure why, but when I heard that the cashier was giving this woman back the check that took 20 years to write I felt my annoyance growing! What in the WORLD was the point of WRITING a check only to get it back! AHHH!
The couple walked away and I continued my checkout. All I kept thinking to myself at that point was how annoyed I was that it took so long. It was after 6:00 at night. I had been running around all day. All I wanted to do was be home with my family, relaxing. When I walked to my car, I saw the couple unloading their groceries into their car, and suddenly (and thankfully), the "aw, so sweet" thought came flooding over me again. I noticed they finished unloading their cart at the same time I was, so I took their cart for them (and received a very big thanks and a smile) and put it away with mine.
As I drove home, I couldn't help but wonder why I had gotten so frustrated while waiting in line. I wasn't even in a hurry. Yet, the fact that they were taking longer than usual to checkout was just completely annoying to me. I felt guilty.
I'm not going to lie . . . I know I'm not always on time. I can be late . . . frequently. Yet, when my kids make a comment about someone pulled over on the side of a road by a cop, they often ask my thoughts about it, and I just say, "I'm just not in that much of a hurry." And that's true - I rarely do speed . . . I'm NOT in that much of a hurry (and sometimes I just don't focus on how fast I'm going!) Even when I'm late, I still choose to not speed . . . all that may be more because on the rare occasions that I HAVE sped, I get a ticket! So why was it that I was so annoyed that night?
Miranda Lambert has a song out called "Automatic" about how life was easier/better before technology was involved in everything . . . before everyone was in a hurry to get somewhere; anywhere; nowhere. The chorus goes:
Hey, whatever happened to waitin' your turn
Doing it all by hand,
'Cause when everything is handed to you
It's only worth as much as the time put in
It all just seemed so good the way we had it
Back before everything became automatic
Our world is very automatic. Our society seems to always be go go go . . . it's always how much can I get done to make as much money as I can make in as short amount of time as I can? It's sad, really. We rush and rush for so much of our lives that we don't really get to stop and smell the roses (yep, I used the cliche ... deal with it). And what is even worse is that we rush and rush and rush during some of the most important years of our lives. I mean, my kids are (sigh) 11 and 13 (OMG) and I so wish I could go back in time and not rush and rush and rush. I'd like to have back those days that they'd want lay around the house in their PJs, snuggle, and watch movies ALL day . . . but I always had laundry to do, bills to pay, a house to clean. I know they're getting old, but thankfully, they still have moments when they want to snuggle with me. They still give me BIG hugs, and sometimes they even talk to me or give me hugs in front of their friends!
So, I am going to try (I say try because I'm not perfect) to slow down and value a slower paced life. I want to go for walks with my dogs instead of paying the bills (HA!). I want to go to the movies with my family even if my house isn't clean. I want to happily chill out with my kids, instead of working on an IEP. And I will pray that someday some young girl (I can dream, right?) standing behind me at the cash register will not get quite so annoyed with me.
At that point, I'm pretty sure I scored the best spot and breathe a sigh of relief. I unload my stuff onto the checkout stand/conveyer belt-thing (what is that called?) and start mentally planning out the rest of my evening. Suddenly, I realize that this "perfect line" I chose is not moving as quickly as I had thought. I look toward the couple and realize the woman is writing out a check. I kind of smile to myself and think, "Aw, that's sweet; she's still writing checks instead of using a card." My mind begins to wonder again for who knows how long, when I again think - WOW, this is taking a really long time. I look around at the other lines and see people checking out and walking away . . . and my attention snaps back to the couple in front of me. This woman STILL has her checkbook open . . . I hear the cashier say something about the price, to which the woman responds, "I'm writing it for $30 over." The cashier begins correcting whatever she had put in the system while the woman watches to make sure it's corrected. My "aw" smile is now not a smile. I'd like to believe I'm not scowling yet, but I'm sure I look entirely bored. A few minutes later, this woman is STILL writing in her checkbook and it dawns on me that she is putting the check total into her check register and balancing her checkbook (or something like that .... I'm not entirely sure what she was writing, but what else could it be? She was writing FOREVER!) Ok; NOW I'm getting a bit agitated . . . I mean, I felt like I had been waiting for a good 10 minutes. I'm sure I'm scowling by this point. The cashier hand the woman a receipt, which the woman must sign in order to get her cash. She wrote so slowly; apparently dotting every single "I" and crossing every single T was of the utmost importance that evening. Once she hands the receipt back to the cashier, the cashier takes that and the check and runs it through the register. Then, she says, "Here is your receipt and your check." And I'm not sure why, but when I heard that the cashier was giving this woman back the check that took 20 years to write I felt my annoyance growing! What in the WORLD was the point of WRITING a check only to get it back! AHHH!
The couple walked away and I continued my checkout. All I kept thinking to myself at that point was how annoyed I was that it took so long. It was after 6:00 at night. I had been running around all day. All I wanted to do was be home with my family, relaxing. When I walked to my car, I saw the couple unloading their groceries into their car, and suddenly (and thankfully), the "aw, so sweet" thought came flooding over me again. I noticed they finished unloading their cart at the same time I was, so I took their cart for them (and received a very big thanks and a smile) and put it away with mine.
As I drove home, I couldn't help but wonder why I had gotten so frustrated while waiting in line. I wasn't even in a hurry. Yet, the fact that they were taking longer than usual to checkout was just completely annoying to me. I felt guilty.
I'm not going to lie . . . I know I'm not always on time. I can be late . . . frequently. Yet, when my kids make a comment about someone pulled over on the side of a road by a cop, they often ask my thoughts about it, and I just say, "I'm just not in that much of a hurry." And that's true - I rarely do speed . . . I'm NOT in that much of a hurry (and sometimes I just don't focus on how fast I'm going!) Even when I'm late, I still choose to not speed . . . all that may be more because on the rare occasions that I HAVE sped, I get a ticket! So why was it that I was so annoyed that night?
Miranda Lambert has a song out called "Automatic" about how life was easier/better before technology was involved in everything . . . before everyone was in a hurry to get somewhere; anywhere; nowhere. The chorus goes:
Hey, whatever happened to waitin' your turn
Doing it all by hand,
'Cause when everything is handed to you
It's only worth as much as the time put in
It all just seemed so good the way we had it
Back before everything became automatic
Our world is very automatic. Our society seems to always be go go go . . . it's always how much can I get done to make as much money as I can make in as short amount of time as I can? It's sad, really. We rush and rush for so much of our lives that we don't really get to stop and smell the roses (yep, I used the cliche ... deal with it). And what is even worse is that we rush and rush and rush during some of the most important years of our lives. I mean, my kids are (sigh) 11 and 13 (OMG) and I so wish I could go back in time and not rush and rush and rush. I'd like to have back those days that they'd want lay around the house in their PJs, snuggle, and watch movies ALL day . . . but I always had laundry to do, bills to pay, a house to clean. I know they're getting old, but thankfully, they still have moments when they want to snuggle with me. They still give me BIG hugs, and sometimes they even talk to me or give me hugs in front of their friends!
So, I am going to try (I say try because I'm not perfect) to slow down and value a slower paced life. I want to go for walks with my dogs instead of paying the bills (HA!). I want to go to the movies with my family even if my house isn't clean. I want to happily chill out with my kids, instead of working on an IEP. And I will pray that someday some young girl (I can dream, right?) standing behind me at the cash register will not get quite so annoyed with me.