It would be a quick trip.
I'd be home in no time.
Dinner would be early!
Yes, quick as a bunny.
Zucchini, mushrooms, and pineapple.
I made my way to the checkout.
There they were.
Lines of carts filled to the brim.
It's ok,I thought. I'm not in a big hurry.
I can be patient.Then a checker said, "I can take you on four."
A new checkout line!
Ok. That'll be quicker.
Not that I was in a hurry.
I felt like I'd just won the lottery....or at least, bingo.
I'd gotten in the shortest line! Woo hoo!
I'd be out of the store in no time.
Two guys were ahead of me. One had two packages of cheese, the other, two buckets of rainbow sherbet.
The guy with cheese had a coupon.
There was some problem with the coupon.
The checker read it, scanned it, read it, asked the man some questions.
More questions, more scanning.
Way too long for cheese.
Just pay for the cheese, I thought to my I'm-not-in-a-hurry self.
Finally, the man left with his two packages of cheese.
Whew!
Two buckets of sherbet to go.
This won't take long and I'll be out of here!
The checker asked the guy for his grocery card or phone number.
He gave her his phone number.
She entered it.
She entered it again.
And again.
"Are you sure this is the right number?"
"Yes."
She tried again.
"How long have you had this number?"
"Four years."
She tried entering the number again. And again.
"Maybe you should enter the number on the machine."
So he entered his phone number in the machine.
"It still reads invalid. Try it again."
I looked at the other lines that were so long...so long ago.
The people in those lines were gone.
New people had taken their places.
I continued to smile and tell myself I wasn't in a hurry.
I told the checker and the guy they could use my card,
my number, so he could get his discount on his, I'm-sure-it's-melting, sherbet.
But, no. She asked if he had his card.
"'In my pickup."
"Why don't you go get it."
Wouldn't you know.
He did go get it.
He meandered back in, card in hand.
He wasn't in a hurry, either.
She scanned his card.
He looked at the checker. "That's not the right price."
I'm sure I rolled my eyes (in my mind anyway).
The checker said, "Come on. Let's go check the price."
So, the checker and bucket boy left to visit the frozen food department.
By this time, I'm thinking, are you kidding me?
The lady behind me was buying diapers. Hopefully, her baby had a few diapers left when she left home.
Her daughter stood beside her. She had time to turn every page in a bridal magazine.
The lady looked at me like, now what?
"Price check," I told her.
Finally, the checker and the guy returned. He was holding his two buckets of rainbow sherbet.
I wanted to sing, "Somewhere over the rainbow..."
The guy decided he only wanted one bucket of sherbet.
The checker left (again) and put the other bucket in the ice machine.
I looked at the guy. "Are you going to have your sherbet double-wrapped?
It's pretty hot outside."
"Nope. It'll be all right. My pick-up's got air conditioning."
It was my turn.
At last.
I think the employees changed shifts.
I know the guy's sherbet bucket was dripping on the way out to his pick-up.
The lady behind me probably missed feeding her baby.
Her daughter decided she didn't want to get married.
It was a good thing I wasn't in a hurry.
I needed a patience lesson today, anyway.
(Let patience have her perfect work...James 1:4)
P.S. This is a true story. Names were not mentioned because I didn't know them. They were not innocent.
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