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Keep Calm And Carry On

by Ruth Ann Harnisch on 07/28/10 at 4:07 pm

Day 202

There were two lines, and I was prepared to join whichever one moved fastest.

At my left, the customer’s voice was loud and sharp.  “Two dollars and nineteen cents for THAT?”  The cashier did not make eye contact, but politely repeated the total. 

To my shock, the customer flung the cash at the young lady behind the cash register.  She didn’t flinch, gathered the money, rang up the purchase, thanked the customer, and I was next.

I expressed my amazement at what I’d just witnessed, and the cashier informed me coolly that sort of thing happens quite frequently. She has been trained to remain polite and professional without tolerating abuse.

This incident kept coming to mind long after I left the store, so I wondered what I was supposed to recognize or learn about my own behavior.

Well, I like the “remain calm and polite and professional without tolerating abuse” thing.  I installed that program immediately, and have had several opportunities to simply remain calm while someone else is figuratively flinging cash at me.

But I’m also capable of behaving like the irate customer. The inappropriate placement of blame, the inappropriate treatment of a fellow human being, the arrogance of assuming a position of rank in the social hierarchy that allows us to maltreat another…oh, yes, all of these are present in me.

Like the angry lady ahead of me in line,  I have not always accepted complete responsibility for the price of my choices.

 Buddha says,  ’”Take what you want, and pay for it.” 

 And, I remind myself,  don’t throw the money at the clerk.