I am not a woman who has a lot of patience. I get fidgety waiting in line. I work while watching movies because I feel like I should be utilizing my time better and I get to feeling like there are things that need to be done. I get twitchy when the person in front of me at a stoplight doesn’t notice the light has turned green.
And somehow at this time of year, I grow patience.
Not a lot, mind you. It’s not like all of the sudden, I could sit behind a stalled car at a red light for five minutes and not get a little screamy – but suddenly, I can slow down for awhile, if only temporarily.
The oddest thing is that I love Black Friday shopping. That should make me stabbity – all the people, the long lines, the slow-walking people meandering through the mall and instead I go with the flow. Friday morning, my mom picked me up at 6:30 and we kick started our shopping extravanza by circling the mall parking lot repeatedly looking for a spot. And yet I remained chill. (By the way: want to feel 12 again? Ride in a car with your mother).
Once I entered the mall, though there were people everywhere the lines weren’t crazy – could be because I didn’t bust any doors at 4 a.m. The longest line? The one for coffee. Of course.
But, it doesn’t really matter. This time of year, I guess I figure we’re all in it together. That person walking in front of me at Target pushing their cart slowly? Probably trying to find the perfect gift for someone they care about, much like I am. The people in front of me in line? They were waiting for the people in front of them also. (My one exception to the whole patience thing seems to be people who are writing checks – I can’t get past it – I didn’t realize people still used checks for in-store transactions with the prevalence of debit cards).
Today as I was walking into the store, I passed a woman pushing a shopping cart out of the store. She had two children with her and they were talking about how it’s Christmas time. The kids had this look on their faces, much like my girls get when we talk about Christmas. They were filled with excitement, or at least in that moment they appeared to be. It’s that excitement that gives me that reserve of patience. That bit of patience that gives me the kooky idea to host a cookie decorating party for the third year in a row (allowing The Princess to invite nearly two dozen children – what am I thinking?!). The patience that lets me go to the mall time and time again until the shopping is done.
It’s a nice feeling. It’s a calm feeling.
It’s a feeling that pretty much disappears December 26.
ha ha! Love it!
But it’s so true. You never know what is going on with someone else. Kind of keeps me from being mean. Kind of.
Plus, I dunno…all that holiday stuff makes me feel *good*!
Though, I must admit, the woman that had 500 questions about her drug prescription and held up the line even though she heard our 4 year old tell me he was hungry and saw that we had a baby yet kept trying to be friends with me even after I had been right behind her for the last 20 minutes…sorry, it just wasn’t happening! 😉
PS My birthday is the day after Christmas. Rotten luck or what?