Hey, Ron: Always good to see you at the kitchen table. I posted this on my blog http://jerryrasmussen.blogspot.com/ and thought it was worth posting here.

Choosing To Be Happy

I was standing in the Express checkout line for 10 Items or less when he got in line behind me. There was a man directly in front of me with three or four items and Kathy who works behind the counter was just finishing with a customer who was checking out. I didn't even notice the elderly woman when I got in line because she was so short, she could hardly see over the handle of the shopping cart. It looked as if shopping was a major chore for her, and she had a cart full of plastic bags nearly spilling over onto the floor. The thought briefly crossed my mind that she had gotten in the wrong line. Clearly, she had more than ten items. She probably had more than ten bags. When I looked over and saw her she smiled at me and I returned the smile.
The man who'd just gotten in line behind me said to me "She never should have been in this line," his voice overflowing with belligerence. At first I didn't respond. "They do it all the time," he said. He must have been talking about the mysterious, omnipresent "they" my first wife loved to refer to. H continued complaining to me and finally I turned to him and said, "We may not know the whole story. The other day there was an elderly woman in this line with a whole cart of groceries and by the time she realized she was in the wrong line, Kathy had already started checking her out. She offered to put the rest of her items in her cart and get out of line, but everyone said, "No, that's alright, just go on with your checkout." She was very apologetic to me and the people behind me in line, but everyone was very gracious to her." I could see that wasn't going to be the case today.
"Yeah, they all say that," the man grumbled. "It's all a scam. They know what they're doing. And then they say, Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't notice that I was in the wrong line," imitating an elderly woman, his voice dripping with sarcasm. I was getting fed up, and could hardly wait until I checked out." "Hey, what's to complain about? She's already checked out. It's not slowing us down," I said.
By then, the woman had finished checking out and was busily arranging the bags in her cart and putting her receipt in her purse. She must have heard our conversation because she looked over at me and smiled weakly. She didn't look like a professional con-artist to me. I think she was just confused and got in the wrong line. The store wasn't busy, and the checkout clerk is very warm and understanding so I think she didn't see any reason to turn her away. At the time, there was no one else in line.
But, the man behind me wouldn't let it go. He kept on grousing, and doing little old lady voices until I finally turned to him and said, "It's your choice if you want to be cynical. Whatever makes you unhappy." As far as I was concerned, that was the end of the conversation, although he continued to complain to my back.
After I left the supermarket, I stopped by Heavenly Doughnuts and bought a dozen doughnuts. On the way home, I swung by Staples and there was Dan standing outside talking with someone. He smiled warmly and said hello, and I went into the store. Dan followed close on my heels and caught up to me. "I want to know how you spell your last name, Dan." "It's Borrelli with two r's and two l's." he answered. I'm writing about two Dans in the chapter I'm writing and I need to keep the two of you straight," I said. And then I handed him the box of a dozen doughnuts. The Staples store is closing at the end of this week, and I thought there should be a Staff Appreciation celebration. "These doughnuts are for you and the rest of the people who work here. I just want everyone to know how much they are appreciated," I said. "Really?" Dan said, with a smile. "Yeah, I bought a dozen doughnuts for the guys at the dump when it closed, and I just wanted to let everyone know how much their help meant to me."
Every day we can choose what our life will be. The man in the Express Checkout line made his choice. I made mine.

Jerry