Truth In The Checkout Line - A Minute of Presence for Women
Truth in the Checkout Line
All I needed was a morning paper and a carton of juice. I strode with purpose into the grocery store, grabbed the juice, swiped a paper off the stack, and queued up in the express line behind three other sleepy-eyed customers, none with more than a few items themselves.
And I waited. And waited.
Shifting from one foot to the other, I eyed the young cashier casually chatting up every customer as if she had all the time in the world. By the time she got to me, I was nearing a meltdown and in no mood to discuss anything. She scanned my juice and the Chronicle, which had been sitting on the belt for quite some time. Just when I thought we might be done, she placed my paper in front of her and began to read the headlines aloud to me. “‘Rains Cause Local Flooding.’ ‘Inmate Escapes from County Jail.’ Did you see this?”
I hadn’t. Because what I really wanted was to read the paper at home, with a glass of orange juice. On my own.
“No,” I said. “And I’d like to read it first if you don’t mind.” (Oh yes, I did.)
Her sweet face fell. Her smile disappeared. Although I instantly felt guilty for being short with her, I was sure she was about to apologize for being so slow and messing up my paper. Instead she looked at me with great concern and said, “You must be having a really bad day.”
I was. I was so intent on my wants and so annoyed by having to wait longer than I thought necessary that I didn’t consider her feelings at all. She wasn’t checking my groceries inaccurately, and she didn’t have a bad attitude. She wasn’t lazy. She was just slow. And friendly. (And perhaps not best suited for the express line.) I, however, was rude and wrong. I mumbled something like “No, I’m fine” and exited as quickly as I could, my face flushed and my conscience burning. I hoped she didn’t know me from anywhere. (Like church.) Then I sat for a while in my car, pondering the truth about myself that I learned from the checker in the express line.
The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Proverbs 12:18, NIV
