Waiting at the Register
Many of us are probably familiar with Costco. You know, the big warehouse comprised of endless aisles dedicated to everything you didn't know you needed. Also the place you can buy clothes, a greenhouse (and plants for said greenhouse), oranges for the entire soccer team, and shampoo. Costco.
I feel like it is a big deal in an adult life when you make the transition to holding a Costco membership. Like you decide one day that it is worth committing to storing something as MUNDANE as twenty five pounds of rice somewhere in your home so that you can save a couple bucks. Because such membership is highly valued where I live, Costco is often busy and the lines take a bit of time to get through. And most Americans, most people I would guess as well, are not huge fans of standing and waiting in line.
I ventured out to Costco midweek, midday in full expectation that the lines would be shorter. They were shorter, but not nonexistent. I bobbed and weaved through the aisles to get the few things that I needed and arrived at the self check out line. If I played my cards right, I might get out of Costco in under twenty minutes! While waiting for a register, I noticed a woman standing and waiting for an employee to help her with her register. There is always something that the register wants you to get approved before allowing you out the door. The three employees monitoring the self check out were somewhat occupied at the time, but seemed to not be in a rush to help this woman. So she waited. Then I pulled up to the register next to her and one of the employees turned to help me. All the while the woman was still waiting for her turn. I estimate it was probably five minutes or so she had been waiting. I rang up my items and began to leave, and it was only then that the employee who helped me noticed the woman and walked over to help her.
I was shocked! In this gargantuan of a store that is usually so busy you'd guess you were at a theme park, the employees are typically very efficient. But this woman stood quietly and patiently for at least five minutes, enough time for me to notice her already waiting, ring up my items, and leave, before anyone helped her. She did not get irritated or snippy, she just waited. I wanted to say something to her like, "Wow, thank you for modeling such LOVE through patience," or something like that but I was honestly at a loss for words witnessing her waiting.
Watching her wait was one of those MUNDANE moments in life that reminded me that LOVE is all around us. She showed LOVE to all of us, including the employees, by being so comfortable in the MUNDANE waiting. I long to exude the same!
How are you in the MUNDANE waiting?
