Something happened today that made me really question my patience. I went to the store across the street from where I work to pick up a sandwich for lunch and made my way to the 10 items or less line. In front of me in line stood someone with a cart full of items. She surely had over ten, perhaps even over twenty. As usually occurs in situations like this, the clerk said nothing.
Because I had nothing else to do while I was waiting in line behind her except to notice how heavy the items in my arms were becoming while regretting not using a cart myself, I began to count the items as they were handed to the clerk. At nine items I looked down at the cart and knew that this woman had violated “10 items or less” etiquette. But then I was surprised. She stopped and said that she had more than one order and wanted multiple transactions. As I stood behind her and counted the number of items in each transaction the ten item limit was never reached. I felt that she had cheated the system and gotten away with something.
Was it right for me to feel this way?
My name is Richard Smolenski and I am a theologian in training. I have an M.A. in Christian Apologetics from