If everyone was endowed with a superpower,
then mine would be Finding the Slowest Checkout Line. I am able to do it unfailingly, usually in
exact proportion to how much of a rush I am in. Sunday at Costco was no
different.
After a full morning at church, followed by lunch with my
husband, I decided to go to Costco.
Costco on Sunday afternoon is always a mob scene, but I needed to get a
few things before the next version of winter hits tomorrow. It was as crowded
as I expected. On the good news side of things, I was able to see most of my
congregation while I gathered the few things I needed. (We Methodists tend to have the same ideas at
the same time.) I headed to the checkout lane and ended up in a line so short
that I was able to start unloading onto the belt immediately.
Engage superpower.
My cart was about half unloaded when I realized that the
conveyor belt was not conveying. I
looked up to see that we were waiting for a manager to help with the family in
front of me. The manager was, unusually, nowhere to be seen. And so we waited. The
manager arrived and curtly explained some membership issue to the family. Clearly,
English was not this family’s first language, but things were resolved enough
that the conveyor belt started moving merrily along. I resumed my unloading. And
then the belt came grinding to a halt as I heard Len, our checker, telling the
family that he wanted to get the manager again. This time, the manager came
right away, and Len said, kindly, “I’m not sure this family understood what you
were explaining last time. Could you do it again?” More slowly this time, the
manager explained the issue.
Comprehension gleamed in their faces as they realized that they could
save money with this one step that the manager was telling them. They happily
followed his advice and received back more change than they had received initially.
In spite of my impatience, I was pleased for the family. And
I realized that, during my waiting time, I had noticed that the folks behind me
had some items that looked much yummier than what was in my basket. We struck
up a friendly conversation as we waited together, although they never did offer
me one of their chocolates. A church
member that I hadn’t seen earlier came up to me while I was waiting. And, when it was my turn to check out with Len,
he took extra time to get a bag to put over the fresh flowers I had picked up
on impulse. “It’s cold out there, we don’t want them to get hurt,” he explained
as he bagged them up.
As I walked out to my car, I realized what a blessing that extra
time in line had been. I had gotten to talk with two new friends and a church
member. Len had taken care of one family,
and he had shown that same consideration to me and my flowers. Because of those
encounters, I was smiling as I weaved through the ice in the parking lot. And it occurred it me that maybe there is
something special about my superpower after all.
