Excuse Me

I know the world is a busy place and people have places to go and people to see, but does that mean that common courtesy has to go by the way side? This morning I woke up and decided to dress up a little so I put on my new favorite outfit (picked out with help from my mom because I need her fashion help...I am not the best at that myself). So, I went to work wearing my "Barney" sweater (it has purple, yellow, and brown polka dots of various sizes on it...so I call it the Barney sweater). On my way, I decided to stop at one of my new favorite coffee places and pick up a little pastry and some coffee. I placed my order and walked over to the register. Once there, a lady in a flustered, frenzied fashion placed her order behind me and walked up to the register, sauntered past me where I was PATIENTLY waiting for the cashier, use her hind end to kind of wedge herself between me and the register, put her card on the cash register, reached behind the counter to get a coffee cup, and then left the line to get her coffee. I wanted to yell out, "EXCUSE me lady, you cannot tell me that you did not see me standing here in this Barney sweater...it had polka dots all over it and it has BRIGHT colors. You cannot miss me." THEN, when the cashier tried to take my money first (after all, I was there first) the lady kind of looked at me, pulled up her nose in a wrinkle of disapproval, and then waited for her turn. So, I took my cup and filled it up. I went to reach for a lid and noticed the "hurry lady" left her cup just sitting there on the counter. So, she walked over to me, looked at me, and muttered, "Is that YOUR cup." It was all I could do to not say, "No, my cup is in my hand because I had the patience to wait and keep myself collected and calm." But, instead, I pasted on a smile and said, "Nope, that one is yours...I take my coffee black." The old adage rings true: "A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine." Just because she did not properly plan her morning does not mean I need to freak out and be flustered and rushed. I can only imagine what she would have done had I decided to make EXACT change or something with my order. My mom taught me many things...and I am so thankful that being patient and waiting your turn was one of them.