i've decided i must be in denial about going back to school. yesterday, i knew today was the first day of class. i've known all winter break. so, why did i subconsciously not buy a notebook while i was out running errands yesterday? sometimes i wonder if i'm supposed to be pursuing this degree. i've already paid the tuition and bought books for this semester so i might as well press on. it would be too difficult to deal with returning the textbooks to amazon.com. again, i wonder if a return-hassle is the only thing keeping me in school, should i really be going?

anyway, i got up this morning and left my apartment at little early to stop by walgreens to purchase a notebook. (i will have no other free time to do it today, and it's grad school so there will be lecture on the first day.) i'm in somewhat of a rush because it's the morning after a holiday so traffic is going to be a little slower than usual.

i grab a notebook and a pack of pens (hey, maybe i should stay in school. i grabbed those pens without thinking.) and headed for the register. here, i should note that i am the only customer in the entire store. the little old man at the register says, "i'm sorry. i'm at the wrong register. please come over here."

why is he at the wrong register? he's trying my patience, but i'm trying to be a better christian this year, so i oblige. he rings me up and asks if i want to purchase the weekly special item (some candy bar). still being polite and christian-like, i say no thanks.

he says, "are you sure?"

"yes."

"they taste really good."

"no thank you"

"they are cheap."

"NO THANK YOU!"

why must people test me? i'm trying to do better, but my goodness. i left the store feeling a little bad because he is a little old man, probably working part time, not because he has to, but to keep himself busy. but my goodness, i'm trying to get to work on time ... to my new job. i'm still in that probationary period.

just fyi - i did make it with two minutes to spare. should i feel worse because i yelled at him and still made it on time? or should i feel good because i asserted myself and made it on time?




This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 lovely comments:

    Melissa said...

    Don't feel bad. Just becasue he is an old man doesn't mean he should be pushy.

  1. ... on Wednesday, January 19, 2005