The Coffee Fairy

So I’m driving home from spin class this morning – feelin’ powerful, feelin’ pumped, feelin’ positive. And I pass by a local coffee house on my way home and suddenly I fancy myself a tasty warm beverage.

So – i pull into the drive-thru . 

In my rearview I see a guy pull up behind me.  I can hear the bass of his loud stereo pumping. Slowly, the line-up inches along....and I patiently wait my turn to order.  I can sense something behind me and when I glance again into the rearview, I see that the guy behind me is seriously agitated. I mean – he’s looking pretty impatient – huffing and squirming and shaking his head in disgust.  It’s pretty obvious he’s definitely not having the kind of morning I am. 

Finally it’s my turn to pull up and as I do the lady inside the speaker says “just a moment please...”. So I wait, and I wait. And the dude behind me is getting seriously ticked off.  He actually honks his horn!! When I glance back he’s motioning with his hand - a gesture that seems to say “Come on! Speed it up.” For an instant I feel a bit of fire rise within me.  A few thoughts flash through my head... “What is this guy’s problem?! Geez, doesn’t he know that I can’t make this go any faster!? What a jerk.”  For that instant I felt really annoyed by his obvious anger. Talk about a buzz kill!

And it was in that instant that this lil’ situation could have gone one of two ways...

Negativity is contagious.  I mean, you can actually feel it transferring into you if you let it.  I should know, these last few weeks I’ve been the unlucky recipient of quite a lot of negative projections.  But this time – I thought “Hmmm...wonder what his problem really is? It sucks for him that he is so upset on such a beautiful day.”  And in THAT instant my annoyance turned to compassion and a vision of orange juice flashed into my mind (see earlier posts...).

So when I pulled up to pay – I told the woman inside that I would also be paying for the guy behind me. She looked a little stunned at first.  But – added his 2 XL Triple-Triples to my order (whoa....maybe that’s what his problem was! Too much sugar and caffeine!!) When I drove away I silently blessed him

Cheers angry dude in the black truck....Hope your day gets better!