Patience

With palms together,
Good Morning All,

This morning there wee two of us for zazen, faithful Zento and myself. After we sat, Zento told me his girlfriend would be joining us for breakfast. I made the coffee as he prepared the pancake batter. I then sliced a breakfast cake My Little Honey baked for us. We waited. Girlfriend didn't arrive. Zento called her and she said she would be right here. Zento paced a bit. Finally she arrived, but declined breakfast and said she need gasoline. Zento drove her to get gasoline. i went ahead and made my breakfast. By the time he returned, I was just washing my dish. I bid him good day and left for the grocery. Pepper and Tripper were in dire need of treats.

At the grocery store, I got into a checkout line with only one person ahead of me. The cashier rung up her small purchase, but the amount was wrong according to the customer who had an ad saying what the sale prices were. While they tried to straighten things out, the customer kept saying, "I hate people like me!"

The people behind us went to another register.

After a few minutes, the cashier asked me to go to another register as well. So, I got in line behind the people whom just a few minutes ago I was in front of. And in a few minutes, I was walking to my car with a small bag of dog food and a large box of treats.

It is important to know that not a single person was upset except for the lady who perceived herself to be a hindrance to others. This sort of self talk almost always gets us into emotional trouble.

I am sure that if this were a big city grocery store, the scene might have been different, but then, maybe not. In any event, patience is a wonderful thing.

Be well.