Good Morning Church! “I’m Not That Rude!”
She declared in an accent that told everyone in the vicinity that she was from a part of the country that defined rude much differently than we do here in Tennessee.
Here’s what happened;
My husband Mark and I had stopped at the corner convenience store to gas up.
It is next door to Dollar General.
As he filled the tank and checked the oil I ran next door to pick up a couple of cans of soup we needed for a recipe.
I quickly made my selections and went to the checkout.
As I walked up to the cashier I was a little annoyed to see she was checking out items for someone who had left to go back into the store — I assume to pick up something she forgot — but I was pleasantly surprised when the woman returned quickly and was there to finish her transaction before the cashier had finished ringing up her items.
Unfortunately as the customer tried to use her debit card the card swipe machine malfunctioned.
None of this was the customers fault or the cashiers fault — it was just a mechanical problem.
And as the line began to stretch into the store I noticed a cart full of store items sitting abandoned off to the side of the line.
I assumed it had been left because someone had forgotten a wallet or something similar.
But after standing in line and waiting for several minutes a very loud woman pushed past the gentleman standing patiently behind me and said and I quote,“That’s mine — do you mind? Well, I mean unless you want to pay for it for me.”
We all looked at each other with confused expressions on our faces — no one responded to her but she continued to rant about something she had been looking for but could not find.
A few more minutes passed — several of the clerks were trying to fix the card machine and the line continued to grow.
Yes, I was getting frustrated — but only at the situation not at the people. So, I stood as most everyone else did quietly and patiently.
Finally another cashier decided it was time to open another register.
The loud woman slid her cart to the register and began to check out without acknowledging anyone that had stood in the line while she and the woman currently at the broken register were still shopping.
That was the moment I finally gave in to my frustration and asked the clerk with the newly opened register if she intended to stay open until the problem at the only other open register could be fixed — she said, “yes.”
To which I replied “Great! Thank you. Then I’m next.”
What I should have done was simply line up behind the woman and quietly wait my turn — I think that is what JESUS would have done.
But instead I took a subtle little jab at the woman we had all quickly gotten to know.
And as I moved across the store to line up behind her she turned and glared at me then loudly declared, “And just so you know — I did not jump in front of you in the line.”
“I was already in line and they were helping me find something. But I was already here — I did not jump you in line!”
“I am not that rude!”
To which everyone in the store simply responded with a tight smile and slight nod.
None of us wanted to get into a back and forth over store and line etiquette with this woman.
But it struck me as she declared over and over, “I’m not that rude!” how true it is that our actions speak clearly who we are.
I wish that I had simply responded to her, “No problem, I apologize. I should not have said anything.”
But instead my earlier comment and then my stoic response told her and everyone watching that I was a bit of a smart alec.
I suppose I took some comfort in knowing that I didn’t act like this woman.
But clearly — Instead of goading the woman into her little diatribe I could have simply lined up behind her — smiled — and been the Christian example I am suppose to be.
It is so so hard to live up to the expectations God has for us as HIS children.
Fortunately — for us! HE knows us better than we know ourselves and beautiful GRACE abounds in the lives we live.
So! Praise God for the GRACE — Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
And let us all hope the week ahead is one where we are more like CHRIST — and less in need of the GIFT THAT ABOUNDS!
Romans 6:1–2 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may abound? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
God Bless!
LaVern Vivio
December 9, 2018
