My New Rule

Our house is on a hill. Only homes and school on the hill. Have to go to the store, get gasoline, have your car washed, grab a cup of java on a corner, gotta go to town. Down the hill.

I needed to get a few groceries yesterday and was going to make a quick trip to the store, but once there, loaded up with the weekly groceries for a family of four, a cat and a dog. No reason to go back twice. Same thing when getting gasoline. No reason to put in twenty dollars worth and do it again in a few days, fill the damn tank and forget about it for a while...

I went to the store while the elementary school was still in session. Perfect timing, because I would be going back up the hill as the plethora of parents would be going down with their kids safely buckled in their seats. And it was an hour before I had to go get my girls at the middle school. Plenty of time to drop the groceries at home and even put them away.

I was okay at first, but then I started thinking of more things we were out of or soon to be. I made mental notes and decided to go isle to isle. The store got busier and busier. Not just because I was now with the parents who made it down to the store with their kids in tow, but with all the people with the same idea I had...to hit the store before school got out!

I finally get to the front of the store with a full cart. Only two cashiers open. I do the nice thing and get in the line where the people have more items, leaving the other for people in a hurry or with a few items....Here is where it gets difficult. I am in line behind two other women with not as much as I have, but enough to take a few minutes to ring up. Behind me comes a woman with two items. I graciously let her go ahead of me and she and the checker say how nice I am...Not looking for kudos, but I understand how it is to have two items and get behind somebody with a full cart, who inevitably writes a fucking check. I tell the woman, no problem.

Next comes woman number two. She has one item. I tell her to go ahead of me as well. She tells me thanks, she is in a hurry. At that moment, I thought, here is my next post. When do I cut off the line? I could be there all day letting people with one or two items go before me. Why don't they open the damn ten items or less lane? Anyhow, woman number three comes up and I am still unpacking my cart. I do it again and ask if she would like to go ahead of me. Oh, thanks, she says. You're welcome! I decide that's it. Nobody else gets to cut. I look behind me and there are five more people and all have few items. The lane next to me is full of the same. I want to tell those in line, I already let THREE people go ahead of me or I would let you go too. I really think it would have been nice for the checker to, A) Call for another checker or three or B) At least say, "it was so nice of you to let three people go ahead of you!" Just so I didn't feel bad.

So, I have decided my new rule is, if somebody gets in line behind me with a couple of items that can be rung up before I unload my cart, then I will let them pass. Otherwise, forget it Bub. Not gonna happen! And to those people standing behind me, hating me because I did not let them go ahead of me, whether I did let others cut, or not....Too damn bad. First, because it is terribly rude of them to be thinking unkind thoughts of me and Second, if they can't take a joke, well you know the rest!