It was a beautiful Sunday morning. We were on vacation, and the plan was to spend the morning at the beach.  We needed to reserve umbrellas and chairs for our morning of lounging,  and they were available on a first come, first served basis.  The stand opened at 8 am, and I was in charge of procuring them for our group.  I woke up with enough time to make myself presentable, grab some coffee and be one of the first in line.

By the time I made it down to the umbrella stand, at 7:50,  I was the second person in line.  I stood adjacent to the man ahead of me so that I could stay in the shade.  Another gentleman arrived and stood next to me, in the shade as well.  A line began forming behind the first man, including a woman and her daughter.  Several people in line began making small talk while we waited.  The stand opened and the first man was served.  As I approached to be assisted next (since I was the second person in line), the lady that was positioned behind the first gentleman reached the counter at the same time that I did and began to make her request.

She cut in front of me.

In that split second, I thought “What do I do? Do I just let her go? Then do I have to let all these other people go, too? These are first come, first serve! What if they run out? She just cut in front me! AND there’s someone behind me! WWJD???”

I stood right next to her and very politely said “Ma’am, I was actually the next in line.” She said “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you”, and let me take my turn.

I walked away after securing my umbrella and chairs, and I am pretty sure that there was visible smoke pouring out of my ears.  She didn’t see me? Are you kidding? I wondered if she saw the guy behind me, who was also there before her! Come on man- at least be more creative in your excuse!!

Admittedly, I am not a morning person, so this really got me grouchy.  Thankfully, I had been caffeinated, so I did not say anything else to the lady, even though I REALLY wanted to. We spent the day on the beach with our friends, and they teased me about the incident.

Later that evening, we went to a restaurant to grab some dinner.  We were informed that our wait would be an hour, which we agreed to.  We weren’t hungry and were there more to soak in the sunset than to eat.  We were walking out of the restaurant to wait outside as a lady was walking in to put her name on the list.  I glanced at the lady- she was wearing a really pretty bright purple dress and had her makeup done beautifully.  She looked great.  As a knee-jerk reaction, I looked at her and said “You look beautiful. I love that dress!” She beamed and thanked me and went on to make her reservation.

I walked out the door and looked for my group in the parking lot, and I noticed that there was another group waiting in the parking lot. One of the girls in that group had been the daughter of the mother/daughter pair from the umbrella stand.  The lady in the purple dress came out and joined them, and I realized that she was the lady that I wanted to punch (not really) earlier that day.

I was so grateful that I kept my mouth shut earlier in the morning.   I smiled when I thought about how I had complimented her, without thinking, and without even realizing who she was.  Had I realized who she was before I said something nice, I am sure that something snarky would have jumped out of my mouth instead. It’s so like God to make me say something nice when I would so much rather say something sarcastic. 

I don’t always keep my mouth shut.  I need much more practice in this area of self control.  God really taught me a lesson that day- If I want to be like Him, I need to speak like Him and less like myself.  (For the record, I don’t normally compliment complete strangers, but since this incident, I have started…)

~Shiney