Something I've Been Meaning To Blog About For A While Now

The day I was about to vacation in St. Louis my Grandmother wanted groceries -- stuck up on food for the weekend so she doesn't starve.  So we go around and buy meat and water and milk.  Here comes the dreaded decision: Which of two checkout lines do you take?  I immediately go to one line where there were two old ladies asking the checkout woman some questions.  Hmmm ... elderly lady, and there are two of them. ...  On the other side is a woman with a lot of groceries.  However, there's no one behind her, and it looks like she's nodding as if her checkout lady completely answered her question.  I had to think on my feet, so I ditch the lane I just got into and move to the other one.

What a fucking bad choice.  Turns out that that woman had another question about one of the items she was buying, baby food.  It got to the point where the checkout lady had to find a supervisor, who didn't come around for several minutes.  Meanwhile, on the other goddamn lane, those two ladies had their questions answered as soon as I realized I was going to be stuck behind this woman for a while.  So the guy who was behind me got checked out before I did.  As did the person after him, who wasn't even lined up when I switched.  And the person after him ... and the person after him. ... All the while I was fucking waiting as these two women got the issue resolved.

When I finally got to the front, she asked me, "How are you doing?"  I was visibly frustrated just standing there, pounding my fists on the conveyor belt and furrowing my brow.  But I had to let it go when speaking to the checkout lady who was only doing her job and trying to do it well.  "Not well," I admitted.  "I have to leave very soon and I switched to this lane when I shouldn't have."  (I'm sure the woman ahead of me was out of earshot.  At least I hope.)  Checkout Lady didn't snap at me or anything, she just shrugged and moved me through checkout as quickly as possible.

I got home in plenty of time; I certainly didn't miss my plane or anything.  This just reinforces something I learned from a friend a long time ago: If you make a choice, you should stick with it.