Line Decisions
(Yup I'm on the Green Fidelity Line)
Many things can be learned while waiting in line. Of course I've personally experienced this as a person who has probably waited in lines for two lifetimes. This is the explanation for how I have become so wise beyond my years. One can learn the virtue of patience, study human behavior, realize how standing is more tiring than walking, and just have some personal time to think. It can be a life changing activity.
As I waited in line at an arts and craft store to purchase wood (excited to practice carving this weekend), I observed a few things. First of all, some people can't do percentages very well and even think that computerized register was wrong. While not impossible, it's highly improbable that the register is wrong. A woman at the store disputed that the calculated price of one item after a 10% discount for about five minutes. As an engineer (as anyone would be), I was quite annoyed because I just wanted to go home and eat. It's 10%; you just move the decimal to find how much you are saving!
After the five minutes of frustration and extreme hunger, the person in front of me moved on to open register. I was joyful that she only had three items to checkout so it should be a quick simple process. But of course life isn't so simple, she said she had two coupons so she wanted to do two separate purchases. The cashier scanned the first set and waited for the coupon while the customer went through her medium-sized purse bag. After another five minutes of going through her bag, she gives in and says she must have left it at home... I would expect people at an arts and crafts store would be organized but I guess I shouldn't stereotype. But again, as with waiting at the DMV or post office, people should be ready to check out once you're at the cash register especially if you waited in line for a few minutes!
Then, it took me about thirty seconds to purchase my wood. A tip for those who buy with a credit card, you can swipe at anytime and don't have to wait for all your items to be scanned. And I politely refused to sign up for their customer program to avoid going beyond the point of hunger of not being hungry anymore.
After seeing the mess of the customer ahead of me, I've decided to clean up and simplify my life this weekend. First, instead of deleting emails from stores everyday, I'm going to unsubscribe from their mail lists. This will help save time and reduces the chance of purchasing something because it's a "great deal". Then, I'm going to go through my inbox to delete emails that is irreverent and out of date. I'm not sure if you have this problem but I have a stack of (paid) bills that I don't know what to do with. So to avoid that in the future and be more environmental conscious, I'm going to go to paperless billing for everything.
Who knows what else I will do to reduce clutter!?