Doesn't it seem that the more of a rush you are in, the slower all the people around you go?

Yesterday, I realized when I got my son to his baseball game that the first aid tape holding the gauze on his newly injured elbow was not going to stay put for the game. I needed to get better tape and try to get back before the game started. The drug store was closer than my house, so I decided to just buy new, stickier tape.

The cars in the parking lot were cruising around slow, waiting for parking spaces. The lanes were narrow so passing wasn't always possible. I finally parked far, hurried in and found my supplies. Then I proceeded to the check out.

Although one register had a line four people long, the other line had only one guy in it. Rather than question the people in the long line, I happily took my place in the short one. Then I realized why no one was in this line.

The older gentleman in the line in front of me was at the stage in life where rushing is no longer an option. He had a little chauffeur-style cap covering his gray hair and suspenders holding up his plaid pants. I'm sure he thought he was being modern by not using cash, but he wrote a check. Of course, he did not start writing the check until all the ringing up was completed. When his granddaughter wanted to discuss candy options, he had to stop writing. No multi-tasking at that age. The teenage cashier was obviously inexperienced with checks that are now rarely used - expect by people in front of me. So he had to call over support to help him figure out how to force the computerized register to accept the darn thing.

So I finally got in the other line. No I don't have a store card. No I don't want to fill out an application. I dared to get cash back off my debit card and didn't realize I had to hit the zeroes. So I got back 35 cents, which the cashier dropped.

Don't those moments make you want to yell at everyone? I thought I could do it in under 15 minutes. With the trafficy parking lot & intersection plus the crackerjack service, it was almost 30. I know the whole world is not obligated to rush around for me, but I would sure appreciate it if they did.