I can remember growing up, I had some anger issues. Nothing extreme, at least I didn’t think so, but the smallest thing could piss me off and completely ruin my day. I have done my best to “manage my anger” since those days, and have done a pretty good job with it. But the other day, my “anger management” skills were tested… HARD.

I went to the store to pick up some bread. Just  three loaves, that’s all I had. Needless to say, I did not want to wait in a long line for just 3 loaves of bread. So I saw a line with 2 older ladies who only had 2 items. I thought to myself, “Surely they wouldn’t too long.” The only problem is I always seem to pick the wrong line, whether at the grocery store, amusement park, where ever; I always get behind people who just have no sense of time, at all.

It turns out these women are returning items for a cash refund. The cashier scans the items and now needs a manager to complete the transaction. Of course all the managers on the planet are in a meeting at this particular time, and all the other employees are unaware of it. I tried to practice patience, surely it will not take them too long to figure this out. HA!!!

The line I was going to choose, where the guy behind where I would have been if I waited in that line is paying for his stuff, does not have a line. So I grab my bread and head over there. The cashier looks at me then my bread with a face of “Ugh… Well he only has three loaves of bread.” About that time I noticed the line’s Number Light was turned off; but she was being nice a was going to ring me up anyway. Then about the time she scans my first loaf, a handicapped person rolls up behind me with a good bit of stuff. The look on the cashiers face made me feel so bad for her. I paid for my bread, got my receipt, and left; while the ladies were still waiting for a manager.

As I was walking to my car, I was thinking, “How could all of that been avoided?” I mean, when the first cashier said they couldn’t find a manager, I wanted to scream “Take That Sh** To Customer Service Where You Should Have Taken It In The First Place!” I mean those registers a setup for that kind of transactions. But I think it would have been worse if I had gotten into an altercation with two old ladies at the front of the store. But what really pissed me off was the fact that poor cashier #2 is now going to be late getting off.

She’s not going to have time to get to the bank to deposit money to pay the power bill online. And her children are going to have to eat cold cans of beanie weenies in candle light. And take cold baths. All because these women didn’t want to talk 30 feet to get to customer service.

So how could I have avoided that whole situation? How would you have handle that situation? I sure if I had expressed that I was angry to the old women, I would have gotten hit with a handbag or something.