Dying Man’s Daily Journal – Why stress myself or others

For reasons only known to our Heavenly Father, I have been given some “extra” time on this earth. I am at least trying to use some of that time to grow as a person. I had better quickly add that when I say grow I am talking of spiritual and emotionally. I can just hear family and friends jumping in saying:”Bill” take a look at your waist line. Are you sure you want to keep growing?” It is a struggle but I use the keep trying approach to it. Keep trying, keep poking away at it and results will eventually begin to show. Spiritual growth is not easily measured without some sort of an event or happening against which I can gauge my response today over what it likely would have in the past. I had such an event a week or so ago.

I was in one of those big stores that sell everything you could possibly need for any sort of home improvement or renovation.

Now I should explain I have always had what I suppose is a fascination with numbers. Maybe better put would be to say I like doing straight forward math in my head. Sort of a hobby I suppose. It was like a challenge, as I am standing in the check out line, I mentally add up the purchase and try to calculate the sales tax. It was like a challenge to see how close I could come to the actual total cost. I did get to be pretty good at it. Well, I often still try to do that. lol. I find of late my accuracy level has dropped a “bit”.

OK, I am in the check out line at the store. I have done my math. The total I know is about $60.00 add the tax and I am thinking it will be something less than $70.00. I am surprised when the cashier tells me it is $112.00. My thought is geesh was I ever out on that one. With the way this head of mine works these days miscalculations do seem to be the order of the day. I pulled out my debit card and paid for the items but as I did I commented that the total caught me by surprise, much higher than I thought. Now to her credit, the cashier immediately checked my sales receipt, even before giving it to me.

Now this is where the sage begins. The very first item I am being charged for is a can of paint. That is fine, except I didn’t buy any paint. The guy infront of me in line had purchased 3 or 4 cans of paint. Here is what happened. The scanners at the check out are very sensitive. As this other guy was picking up his paint he must have accidentally moved the can in such a way that the scanner picked it up again and registered it as my first purchase.

I am thinking” “oh well, things happen, it is lucky I am still right here in the store.” The lady was so nice and so very apologetic as she explained that as the transaction had been completed there was nothing she could do at her register to correct it. I am thinking: “huh, I have to go over to the returned items desk. To get a refund, I have to “return” a can of paint I never purchase in the first place”. Hmm.

The cashier phoned over so the lady at the desk was expecting me as I arrive sales receipt in hand. She is also very nice and very apologetic for the mix up. The first thing she asks me is, how would I like to receive the  refund? Funds deposited back into my bank account or by way of an instore credit. I would like the money deposited back onto my bank account or cash. I really don’t want an instore credit for something I didn’t purchase in the first place. She understands that and sets to work and work she did. Many times she tried to process it at her computer, she tried at other computers, she got others involved. Nothing they could do seemed to work. It seems the computers at the return desk don’t recognize a sales receipt from a transaction that happened only minutes before.

As I think of it maybe it is some sort of safe guard built into the system. I suppose it could be a little suspicious someone returning something they purchase mere minutes before. I don’t know about that. In my case I wasn’t actually returning anything. I wanted a refund after being charged for something I hadn’t purchased to begin with.

Now, there was a day and not all that long ago that I would have been really fired up over a situation like this. “YOU KNOW I DIDN’T BUY THAT DAMN CAN OF PAINT YOU CHARGED ME FOR. I WANT MY MONEY BACK”. That was the old me.

How did I react. I felt sorry for the poor young lady at the return desk. She was doing her best, she was really trying. I knew it wasn’t her, it was the computer system that was denying my request. I also saw her as a young lady, at work doing her best to get through her day. I could see her glancing at me every once in a while, a little nervously, like she feared I might explode in anger over it all. Now, I think why would I get upset with her? She was just doing her job as best she could. She isn’t responsible for store policy or the manner in which to computers are set up. She is just there trying to do her job to get upset with her would have been both unfair and pointless.

Was I in the slightest upset, no. Did I question store policy, yes. In the grand scheme of things how important was it. I knew it would be sorted out so I would be out no money so why sweat it. I could see this lady was stressing over really nothing that was really all that important.

I thought really this doesn’t have to be such a big deal. At the time she was at a different desk working away. I called her over and told her not to worry about it. She had mentioned several times she could give me a hand written instore credit. I realized if this wasn’t worth getting myself stress over, why should I stress someone else over it.

I got the credit, I know I will be back there within a few days, so what is the big deal.