Patience in the Checkout Line

I was in the checkout line at the grocery store the other day. The young girl working the register and the old guy bagging my groceries were engaged in a chatty conversation. Every once in a while, the guy would hold my can of tomatoes or jar of almond butter poised for several seconds before carefully placing it in the cloth bag I had brought with me. The girl at the register would slowly reach for the next item while she considered her response to his comment as if she was carefully listening to him while at the same time trying to do her job. I thought, Could they possibly move any slower? Followed by, What does God have in store for me at this moment? Is this a lesson in patience? I mean, where else do I really have to be right now?

The old man was saying how tired he was, that he had been there since 6:30 that morning. “Wow, you really must be tired,” I said, sincerely concerned for his wellbeing. He was obviously retirement age. I wondered if he had to work or if he liked to work. Turns out it was a little bit of both. “I get up early. Real early. I like to be busy,” he said. “I like to get up and do things. I hate sitting around. I feel like I’ve lived a full day by 11 a.m. But these shifts are long. I can’t wait to get home.”

“And I’ll bet you’re just getting up at that time,” I said to the girl. She smiled and said, “More like noon for me, if I can.”

My participation in the conversation didn’t make the checking and the bagging any slower, but it did make the time more pleasant. When the guy reluctantly placed the last item in my bag, he held onto it as if he didn’t want to let go.

“Well,” he said, making a fist and lightly tapping a few times on my cereal box poking from the top of the bag, “you have a real nice day now.”

“Thank you, sir, and you as well,” I said.

As I walked away, I thought, How much trouble is it really to be kind rather than impatient? I probably spent less time shopping than checking out at that register, but I didn’t contribute to impatience and meanness in the world. That old man’s tap on my cereal box is what I remember when I say a little prayer for him, thankful for his service and hoping he is having a good day.

Possession in Great Measure

Fire in Heaven above:
Thus the superior man curbs evil and furthers good,
And thereby obeys the benevolent will of heaven.

The I Ching, hexagram #14 Ta Yu