Genius In Progress

Today is Monday, and being Monday, things are going wrong and I am in a less than chipper mood. At lunch, as I waited in line for the U-Scan behind some idiot with 40 items and what appeared to be lifetime spent so far with the only definition of “button” being “the thing that holds your clothing together” (rather than, oh say, the thing you push), I sat there grumbling to myself in my head, thinking “Why oh why did I have to pick the lane behind the dumb lady.” In that horribly human fashion, I then began to formulate my opinions about this person whom I have never met, spoken to, or otherwise interacted with in any way shape or form, other than being so horribly inconvencienced as to have to spend 1.5 minutes waiting in line behind her as she tried to shove 3 bills in to the bill slot at almost the same time. And much to my shame, they were not positive uplifting opinions.

But then, as she finished up and picked up her bags, she turned to me and smiled and made some minor comment about being glad she finally figured out how to use it. And in that little quick little comment, she changed from “that idiot in front of me holding up the line for us real people who need to get stuff done” into a person. She was just trying to get through the line, same as the next person. She didn’t harbor some secret wish to slow down aisle 3 of the Jackson Rd. Meijer by not knowing how to work a U-Scan. She was just buying groceries. Chances are good that she’s a wonderful person, probably with a husband and a couple of kids who love her like crazy. Most important of all though, God loves her. But I didn’t see that standing in line. I automatically jumped to the bad.

My question is, why didn’t I see that? Why is it so easy for us to overlook the positive aspects of life, of people, and automatically assume the bad? Does it make us feel better thinking “that person” is an idiot, inconveniencing wonderful us? Next time I feel myself thinking that, I’m going to stop for a second, and try and see what Jesus knows about that person. He obviously has a plan for that person… who am I to judge differently? So hopefully next time I am behind you in the grocery store and you try to pay for your 151 items costing $430 with a bag of pennies, I will be able to smile and see the humor in it.

This is a great education for ladies. If ladies understand these rules they will be much happier with their men. We men always read the all the rules about women, so here is our chance to help them as they have helped us.
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I am now officially a DDR cheerleader. For those of you unfamiliar with DDR, it stands for Dance Dance Revolution. Originally an arcade game fad, it has now spread to most of the major gaming platforms. Available for purchase in addition to the game is a dance pad similar to the ones on the arcade system. Anyway, I cheered Jess on tonight for quite a while whilst watching her play. I thought about attempting it myself, but I was afraid I would hurt myself or others if I attempted to dance, so I resigned myself to being a DDR cheerleader. Good times.