I went to the hardware store to return something.
A customer ahead of me in line (also returning or exchanging something) had problems:
1 – The clerk couldn’t find an item in the computer.
2 – The customer had to lean way over the counter to look at the screen, as the clerk tried to tilt it towards her. They scrolled, pointed, and mumbled.
3 – The customer’s credit card wouldn’t swipe. The numbers had to be entered manually. Error. Error. The clerk twisted herself over the counter and entered it repeatedly on the POS keypad.
4 – They changed their mind, canceled the transaction, and started the process over.
5 – The customer couldn’t find her emailed receipt in her phone.
6 – The customer’s shipping address was wrong and had to be updated.
7 – More leaning over the counter. More scrolling, more pointing, more mumbling.
Meanwhile, the line of customers behind me grew.
I stood there for maybe 20 minutes, rolling my eyes, shaking my head, and doing lots of what my ex-wife would call huffing and puffing.
Another clerk walked up to a second register. FINALLY!
But he simply looked around, casually took a sip of water, checked his phone, and then wandered off.
I was furious.
How can these people be so stupid? How can they be so slow? How can they be so inefficient?
And then I realized:
I am the one who is stupid, slow, and inefficient.
I chose this.
I put myself through all that irritation…
To return something worth $10.
Oh.
Not so smart, after all, am I?
I could have come back another time — or not even bothered to return the item.
Or spent that time working and earned far more than $10.
It’s easy to point the finger. It makes us feel “morally superior to traffic jams.”*
But instead of blaming others (or the environment), it can be useful to ask, “How could I have avoided this?”
Even more useful: what’s the best action to take now?
*From Eckhart Tolle’s Living a Life of Inner Peace