I am rarely a candidate for the express lane at the grocery
store, so when given the opportunity, I take it quite seriously. Apparently, I’m not alone.
I was just in an express lane paying for a single item. There was one man in line behind me
with a hand basket of Old Spice deodorant, butter, iceberg lettuce, wet cat
food and canned soup. I remember
the items so well because I counted them, as did the clerk, although her
reaction was markedly different from mine.
If words could kill, she used a sharp “10 things or less” as
if it were Chinese water torture.
I didn’t want to turn and watch their awkward interaction,
just like no one wants to turn and look at a nasty car accident. Meaning, I looked anyway, silent with dropped jaw. I
heard Dora the Explorer’s voice counting in my head, like all mothers of toddlers do, as
she sang “… ocho, nueve, diez”!
Then, the moment of truth. I was straggling (or being nosey) as he placed an eleventh
item on the belt. My stomach
turned as the Dora in my head mumbled, “… once”.
What happened next was almost theatrical, and reminiscent of
a famous 80’s movie scene where the bully flips a geek’s lunch tray and the
room goes freakishly still.
I admit that I have spent an abnormally long time thinking
about this moment, but with good cause.
Election Day is right around the corner, and social media has become
overrun with rude and angry people trying to force their position, their
ethical code and their ability to click “like” on a pointless meme designed not to inform but entertain. To me, this is nothing
but a misguided waste of energy.
There was no one in line behind the man with eleven
items. He wasn’t holding anyone up
nor doing any harm. Maybe he truly
miscounted his items. Maybe he was
in a rush to tend to his sick cat (I’m assuming he was single, due to the aforementioned
cat food). Maybe it was ignorance,
or even deliberate defiance that brought him to the express lane that day. But either way, who gives a shit?
As I exited the store, I wished I had grabbed the eleventh
item and paid for it myself. I’m
tired of seeing people on the attack.
I’m tired of seeing people berate instead of educate others. We need to get back to a team
mentality. This picture sums it up
perfectly for me…
My advice? Don't get caught in the a-hole. We needn’t agree with everything others
feel passionately about, but need to respect their passions, and willingness to
be open about them. Imagine how
boring the word would be without that... or Mel Gibson.
