I had a couple of meetings today outside of my office and so in between I went to Whole Foods to grab a quick salad for lunch. I was in a bit of a hurry what with time constraints and all, but I got a little excited when I remembered that they have this delicious antipasto stuff (say it like “anti” in “anti-drug,” because that’s what the guy behind the counter did, but I didn’t correct him because he was real sweet and all).
So in line ahead of me is this sweet elderly gentleman who wanted to fix some salad for his wife. He asked the guy behind the counter all kinds of questions, while I’m standing there trying to be patient I was thinking about how much more quickly the process could be moving along.
Once Sweet Elderly Gentleman decided on a type of salad, he took the BIG HUGE COMMERCIAL SPOON and scooped out his wife’s lunch in little. tiny. teaspoonfuls.
Because I have a dark, sinful, selfish, impatient heart, and if not by God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit I would violate traffic laws, especially where school buses are concerned, every single day of my life, all the while yelling at people who hold up lines digging for change in their purses or, heaven forbid, writing checks, here is what I wanted to say:
“Scoop it out. SCOOP. IT. OUT. DIG THE SPOON INTO THE SALAD AND SCOOP IT OUT. DIG THE SPOON WAAAAAY DOWN IN THERE AND YOU CAN EXTRACT MORE THAN A TEASPOONFUL OF SALAD GOODNESS. YOU CAN FILL UP YOUR CONTAINER WITH TWO SCOOPS IF YOU WOULD JUST SCOOP! IT! OUT!”
Here is what I actually said:
Nothing. But ohhhhh I wanted to.
I just smiled politely and when he had trouble getting the plastic lid dots to match up so that the lid would stay closed I showed him how to do it and when he left he patted me on the arm and said "Thank you Sugar!" and then he shuffled away.
Oh And the antipasto was delicious.
Answer to yesterday's trivia question: Flower Drum Song! I love that movie!
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3 comments:
Since you did not tell us how old the man was, the spoon may have been too heavy for him, was his hand shaking, perhaps he did not have the strength to dig. I am very tolerant of older people, I am getting there, but getting behind a coupon shopper in prime time, now that gets my dander up.
I am sure you will be blessed for your restraint.
My patience is tried everyday at the school drop off pick up area. It is all I can do not to lay on my horn when someone stops in the middle of the road to help their kid with their homework and then have a two minute goodbye ritual. People even do this when there are plenty of places to pull over into. Now that school is out I have go through the battle at the rec center pool. We're all trying to get there on time, but apparently the lady who stops for three minutes and blocks the road in front of me has way more important things to do with her time than I do.... The strange thing is, she doesn't know what my day is like so how could she possibly feel so entitled?
What a sweet old man. That would make me feel so down and dirty for even thinking evil thoughts about him and his darn spoon.
I need to blog about the Wal-Mart lady who seriously STOPPED checking out the lady in front of me so she could have a social conversation....all the while I'm fed stinkin' up from my crazy day where I got in the face of two 12 year olds. I know, I gotta blog it!
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