Last Updated on September 14, 2018 by Terry
- The Suffering of Standing in Line
- The Suffering of Being Stupid
1st Sufferer: Carla took my mother who is suffering from dementia, (not Carla, my mother) (Well, I’m not sure anymore, one of them is) (Maybe it’s me) grocery shopping one recent Saturday morning. I left a detailed list the evening before, but Carla couldn’t find it when she got there that morning. That means that my mom picked out stuff that she has 6-7 of already and forgot the items she needed. So, I went back to the store by myself Sunday evening to finish her list.
When I got to the checkout, I noticed a long line. That’s always deflating. As I got closer, I realized that the long line was at the self-checkout, not the normal line I was heading for.
All four of the working machines were being used. There were seven people were in line and growing. Right next to the self-checkout is the express lane, you know, 15 items or less? One person was being checked out and there was one in line with 5 items.
Then there were eight people in line at the self-checkout, one being checked out, and none waiting at express lane. The two ways to check out are side by side. Even I was speechless. I wanted to offer my advice about some of them moving to the express lane but decided it would not be welcomed by the already angry and stupid mob of people so I moved on in the long checkout and never looked back.
Now on reflection, I wonder why I watched this scene so long and lost a couple of spots in the long checkout line? I have no answer. (Huh, maybe it is me.)
The biggest mystery about this incident was the old man that was mumbling and cursing. It was barely audible as I passed him on my way to my line. He was 5th in his line. How sad I thought, to be miserable all the time like him.
He couldn’t even overcome getting beat up by standing in line a few minutes. He apparently doesn’t have the ability to recognize the better solution. He wasn’t even trying!
If the catastrophic task of standing in line a few minutes seems like God is mad at the Philistines, you are not trying to be happy. You must want to be bitter and miserable. Can that really be considered suffering? Mumbling and cursing about your world-ending event is not the answer. That response can only make you feel worse. I hope his suffering didn’t last too long.
2nd Sufferer: I’ve been upgrading my five by eight kayak-hauling utility trailer. I removed the ramp from the back so my kayaks lay level. I installed swimming pool noodles on the floor of the trailer so the little boats will ride comfortably.
I am working on a way to haul my rods. I bounced some ideas off JB and we came up with a solution. If I installed an eight-foot-long, six-inch diameter PVC along each side, we will be able to slide the rod and reels inside one in front of the other.
I tried it Saturday morning when I took Cody on his first kayak adventure. What an adventure it was! I extended my lunker streak to ten trips in a row with a five pounder. We caught over thirty bass and encountered many more. Cody had a four and six pounder right up to his boat but lost them, and I caught about a six to seven-pound Grinnell. I got the entire thing on GoPro for an upcoming You Tube entry. It was a good day.
The rod holder pipe thing worked. I remember the day a few weeks ago that I went to the hardware store for my pipe. They had three sticks of ten-foot-long, six-inch diameter pipe. They were $17 each. I needed two.
One of the three was only eight feet long as someone had needed a short piece for some project of their own. I told the young fellow helping me that I would be glad to do the store a favor and take the shorter piece off their hands as I was going to be cutting two feet off both of mine anyway. “I’m always looking for ways to help others,” I told him.
Anyway, I thought there would be a little discount for the shorter stick of pipe.
What happened next was me learning a math lesson. Well, sort of. I concluded that I don’t understand the new math. I will attempt to describe the incident exactly as it happened.
Checkout guy: “You have to pay extra for the short piece.”
Me: “That doesn’t sound right, I should pay less.”
Him: “Nope, it’s more.”
Me: “Now hold on, I can prove it. If the ten-foot piece is $17, that means it’s $1.70 per foot. Therefore the eight foot piece should be $13.60.”
Checkout guy: “You don’t know what you are talking about. If the whole piece has been shortened, you have to pay by the foot”.
Me: “Sure, $1.70 per foot. Wait a minute, how much do you think it is per foot?”
Him: “$3.29, so eight feet is $26.32.”
Me: “How can a ten-footer be $17 and an eight-footer be $26.32?”
Him: “It’s just how it is. Take it or leave it.”
Me: “Is $3.29 what you charged the guy for the two feet that have been cut off?”
Him: “Yes.”
Me: “So two times $3.29 is $6.58. $17 dollars minus $6.58 is $10.42. I’ll give you $10.42 for the eight foot piece.”
Him: “You’ll give me $26.32 or you will not get the pipe.”
Me: “If I take the other ten-footer instead of this eight-footer, is the price back to $17?”
Him: “Sure.”
Me: “Give me two 10 footers for $17 each.”
Him: “I’m finally getting through to you. Now you understand what we are doing.”
Actually, I did not understand but I needed the two pipes.
I hold him no grudge. I have concluded that he was simply suffering from stupidity and was doing the best he could. It also doesn’t appear that he will recover.
Speaking of suffering and sacrifice, try and reflect on what happened this week seventeen years ago. Now maybe we can have a better understanding of true suffering.
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