hell and sandwiches

this evening, i stopped by quiznos for a sandwich. there was a bit of a line so i stepped in and proceeded to wander off in my thoughts. a few minutes after i got there, a lady came in and saw someone she knew a few spaces up from me. she slid ahead and stepped in next to her friend, beginning the whole "hey, i haven't seen you in a while..." talk.

i guess, according to society's rules, i was supposed to be outraged and yell at her to "get to the back of the line" or maybe just tell on her to the store manager, but the truth is that, for whatever reason, it didn't even occur to me. i looked at her and found myself getting very sad. virtually everything in life takes time and almost nothing takes less than the five minute wait in line for a sandwich. but here was a lady who simply couldn't abide even five minutes. i started thinking about how if everything takes time and this is about as little time as something takes, that she must have a horrible time with the things she really wants, really craves. it must be hard for her to wait for anything. i was thinking that living without even that much patience in your life, must be a genuine hell. at least as bad as that fire and brimstone nonsense. i mean, she may have even been talking to someone she didn't want to talk to just to save the extra minute or two. living that way must be terribly hard. it's like being on fire in your every waking hour.

then i thought, you know, i'm a pretty happy guy. if i see someone living that kind of miserable existence, the least i can do is let her get her sandwich before me. the very least, really.

have a good evening, folks.

2008-03-06 | 8:11 p.m.
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