waiting in line

i stopped at wal-mart to pick a few items up this noon. hit the self checkout line thinking it'd be faster. well, 2 were closed. the other one was in use -- a young gal was waiting to check out. she kept hearing a 'please wait for assistance' recording. interesting. i stood in line at a nearby checker and watched. it was obvious she was getting agitated. she looked around. i heard her say "hello?" and look about. and she did it again. shifted her weight from foot to foot. shook her head. looked around again, and then started to cuss. loud enough for me to hear her 25 ft. away. all the while getting more and more angry. finally manager lady came over, super slowly, and punched in a code that allowed miss anger to check out. she slammed her apples on the counter (not worried about dents and bruises, eh?) and proceeded to check out, mumbling to a friend who showed up at the tail end of all this. hmmmm.....

so -- how do you do waiting in line? i try to be patient; matter of fact, it doesn't bother me all that much. except when the kids start playing with everything and emy attempts step out of the cart to join bro and sis in the mayhem. but overall, a wait isn't all that bad. gives me time to think, to look around, to ponder, and even, if i'm in the right place, to remember to pray for those around me. i'm reminded today that a wait in line can be a gift geared to help us remember to slow down and take advantage of the time we are given. kinda like the post on being present, i think God gives us opportunities each day to connect. so seek those out today -- look for the space and time waiting in line, and see where God wants to take it!