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!
Totes yelling at you when I'm behind you in the drive through!!!
ReplyDeleteThat was truly kind!
ReplyDelete