The World Doesn’t Wait on Me
After my trip to the grocery store this morning, I was inspired to write this opinionated piece.
Here’s some background information. I’m 25 although I look more like 17, I’m from a small town in which my parents, grandparents, and most great grandparents also were from. I love my small town, and its’ aging population.
I’m not sure why but people often overlook me, I believe it’s likely my apparent age, and it generally happens when I travel into a bigger city. Here’s a few things that have happened to me that just grind my gears:
Once I ran into a friend in a nearby city Wal-Mart parking lot. I stood there, out of the way, with my cart chatting to her for probably ten minutes. It was great to catch up with her. While we were standing there, an older but perfectly capable lady came up to me and said “you can put this away for me,” pushed her cart toward me, and just walked away. I looked at my friend in awe, thinking did that really just happen!? What gives this woman the right to tell me to put her frickin’ cart away!?
Another time, I stood in front of a counter waiting for my turn to be called, I’m not sure what I was waiting for, but there were a few other people there, also waiting, standing around but not in a concrete line. I’m standing thinking “yes, my turn is next!” when the lady at the counter calls on the person who came in after me. I look around like WTF!? Of course the person is about 50, and goes ahead not thinking twice about me being there before them, but what gives them the right to go before me? Not only does this happen once, but twice in a row, I end up waiting long past when I should have been called. Of course, since I’m polite and I know the world doesn’t revolve around me, I deal with it and say nothing.
Another time while waiting in line at a busy store, me along with others wait in line with our groceries. There is clearly a line formed extending from the register. An older woman, squeezes the corner of her cart in-between me and the person in front of me. I looked at the person’s face behind me who was seriously annoyed, but nobody said a thing. Because I’m too darn nice! The catch about this one is, when we went to leave, the lady was sitting in the attached McDonald’s by herself when we left, not eating or anything, just sitting. What the heck was she in such a hurry for?
Just today when I was at the grocery store, a lady was shopping. She walked super slow and wandered around the aisle. There were other people around, but she had no idea I was trying to get by to grab my beloved dairy products, and trying to politely squeeze by. When she finally realized I was there, she just turned around and walked away. Why wouldn’t she have said something like “Oops, sorry!” or “excuse me, I didn’t see you there”. I know that’s what I would’ve done, but this makes me think she believes the world waits on her. Listen lady, you’re not the only one shopping in this aisle!
Next up is cashing out. I take the express lane, because I only have about 5 things. The older lady in front of me proceeds to take her time getting out of there, looks at me a few times with no remorse whatsoever that she is slow as molasses. She even gets the cashier to go and grab a bottle of water for her, and makes her cancel the transaction because she forgot her airmiles card beforehand. Then, she stands looking at her receipt, without moving her cart out of the way, while all of my items are scanned, so I can’t bag my stuff. Later, I get out of the store and she has left her cart in an unmarked spot, where people will have to walk around it, and carried her two bags to her car. WHY!? Why do people think the world revolves around them?
Sure, I waste people’s time accidentally from time to time, but you know what the difference is, I actually feel bad for it. There was one time recently I was basically forced into practicing driving standard through town, which was very nerve-wracking. I stalled at one of the lights, and almost cried because the people behind me were sitting and waiting for me for probably 2 minutes. I felt horrible. I still feel horrible! I am probably over-apologetic in these situations, because I don’t believe that the world waits on me.
To sum this up, I am the customer you want. When your service is bad or your food wasn’t what I was hoping for, I politely tip you, tell you the food was good, and go about my business. I don’t complain, I don’t try to argue with your pricing, I pay my bills on time (sometimes surprisingly to myself), and I go about my life. You will never see me taking advantage of people, overstepping my boundaries, or being rude.
The reason I think that I have a different perspective, is because I can see this from the other points of view. I’ve had a few interesting jobs, serving others who were sometimes nasty, and working for people who didn’t care in the slightest about how I felt. Some days I’m in a hurry, while others I’ve got all the time in the world. We have times where the bank account is in the red, and other times when its in the green, I understand the struggles. I’ve been pushed around all my life, and you know what I do, I politely move on with my life, because the world doesn’t wait on me.
