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Today, I had a rushed morning, running on not enough sleep and tight deadlines. My kids were feeling my stress and I was hoping to bribe their understanding and forgiveness with a Sausage McMuffin.
When I got to McDonalds and pulled in behind a car in the drive thru, I was looking forward to some warm food followed by having a few words of conversation with my kids before we all had to rush on with the rest of our day.
As I sat in the drive thru, I was trapped behind a car that was not putting in an order as fast as I thought they should have. My short fuse got the better of me as I waited and waited while the line next to me was served car after car. I started getting pretty frustrated with the person in front of me, that appeared to be trying to use the McDonald’s app to order while in line.
As my foot tapped away, I lost any ability to have a reasonable conversation with my kids due to my irrational impatience.
I finally backed out of the drive thru and went inside to order and left the app struggling car where it was parked in the drive thru in lane one. When I went in to the restaurant I guess the irritation must have been evident on my face as the manager asked if I was okay. I answered, “Well. I guess I’m a little grumpy”. He said , “Would a free cup of coffee make it better?” To which I thought for a moment and said. “Yes, I think it would.“
So warm cup of coffee in hand. I sipped the caffeinated goodness and realized I was letting a random inconvenience ruin my day. Yes, there were extenuating circumstances that built up to that moment, but all in all, life wasn’t really that bad. I was waiting for food that was being prepared for me and my kids, there were no dirty dishes for me to wash and I had a delicious cup of coffee in my hand.
As I walked out to the car I noticed the car that had been in front of me parked was now in the parking lot. It looked like the person occupying it was living in the car. The car itself was in disrepair and full of clothing , blankets and other assorted supplies that one would need if your house doubled as your transportation.
It was then that I felt extremely guilty and remorseful for my poor attitude only moments before. Really, how horrible was it that I was slightly inconvenienced and had to go inside and place my order? Things could be much much worse.
My two thoughts for the morning…When we stop and count our blessings we have less time to focus on minor irritations. Coffee makes everything ok.
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