On a Smile

I just had the worst grocery shopping trip in recent memory. Everything took way too long to find. I am having a scatterbrained day and between trying to find what I needed and trying to keep Levi entertained, we were quite slow moving. The general sense of ennui that I felt upon entering the store changed gradually to stress as time passed and Levi grew ready to leave. The last thing I wanted to get was shrimp, but the seafood counter was closed. I had a cart full of stuff, much of which was supposed to go with the shrimp and Levi was very antsy to leave. I decided to forget about the shrimp and buy my stuff and go home and think about the shrimp later. I didn't even think to buy frozen. Anyway, I got in line, with Levi complaining loudly and had half unloaded my cart when the check-out lady said, "Ma'am, did you know that you are in the express lane?" I thought, "shit", and said "Oh, I'm so sorry,I didn't realize" and started to reload my cart. Schuyler was already waiting for me to pick him up and Levi was yelling and trying to get out. I smiled at the people in line behind me as I left the line and apologized. All three of them gave me really dirt looks as I moved, teary-eyed, into the next line. I had already had a really bad day and one commiserating smile would have meant so much to me.
Moral: the next time the idiot in front of you in line doesn't belong there, give her the benefit of the doubt. She is probably having a worse day than you. One smile might go a long way towards brightening her day.
I am doing much better now. I picked up my husband and he was very sweet and supportive, although I burst into tears when he suggested going to another store for the shrimp. He said that he didn't mind at all about the wait and came up with a funny story to distract me. We had a nice low-key dinner together, I had a piece of chocolate and I feel much better. Also Levi did something mischevous that made me laugh out loud.