Gritting Teeth OR Deus Ex Caffeina
I had one of the most stressful experiences in recent memory today... I went grocery shopping and I got a shopping cart.
Most of you know that I don't get stressed out much at all. I enjoy working under pressure. Those that have argued with me know I'm fine with interpersonal conflict. I don't mind when things go wrong, I like solving the problems. But this afternoon at Safeway, I was a basket-case.* Shopping, again, not normally a problem for me but I normally use a hand basket. Today, I had a lot of things to get, so I decided I'd use a cart...
Things started out badly... I saw a cart by itself near the lockup, but it already had a quarter in it. I decided not to take it because it likely belonged to someone who had just walked away for a minute... As I unlock a new buggy, some chick walks in the door and takes the cart I had left for its owner... then she cuts me off with it! This is the start of an hour of utter stress.
I realized my problem is that I'm considerate: I don't like interfering with other people, just as I don't like being interfered with... with a buggy though, its impossible to not to get in someone's way: You either block access to a shelf, or you clog up an aisle or have to push in-between two people. Someone stopping ahead of you in the aisle is a problem because you can't go around without blocking people going in the other direction. Bloody hell, was it irritating.
My saving grace was Safeway's brilliant move of putting Starbucks in the store. After about ten minutes of dodging people, I had enough and went and got a coffee. There's not a lot a café mocha can't fix - for the next 20 minutes of shopping while I'm sipping on coffee and chocolate, I could deal with the world!
*Interesting Note: The term "Basket-case" was coined during the First World War for quadruple amputees because they would fall off stretchers so they had to be carried in baskets. As you can imagine, their mental condition was a ways from ideal.
Most of you know that I don't get stressed out much at all. I enjoy working under pressure. Those that have argued with me know I'm fine with interpersonal conflict. I don't mind when things go wrong, I like solving the problems. But this afternoon at Safeway, I was a basket-case.* Shopping, again, not normally a problem for me but I normally use a hand basket. Today, I had a lot of things to get, so I decided I'd use a cart...
Things started out badly... I saw a cart by itself near the lockup, but it already had a quarter in it. I decided not to take it because it likely belonged to someone who had just walked away for a minute... As I unlock a new buggy, some chick walks in the door and takes the cart I had left for its owner... then she cuts me off with it! This is the start of an hour of utter stress.
I realized my problem is that I'm considerate: I don't like interfering with other people, just as I don't like being interfered with... with a buggy though, its impossible to not to get in someone's way: You either block access to a shelf, or you clog up an aisle or have to push in-between two people. Someone stopping ahead of you in the aisle is a problem because you can't go around without blocking people going in the other direction. Bloody hell, was it irritating.
My saving grace was Safeway's brilliant move of putting Starbucks in the store. After about ten minutes of dodging people, I had enough and went and got a coffee. There's not a lot a café mocha can't fix - for the next 20 minutes of shopping while I'm sipping on coffee and chocolate, I could deal with the world!
*Interesting Note: The term "Basket-case" was coined during the First World War for quadruple amputees because they would fall off stretchers so they had to be carried in baskets. As you can imagine, their mental condition was a ways from ideal.