Can I Complain?

So today I ventured out of my house for the first time since I got back from my trip to Dr. Seattle, except a really quick trip to the pharmacy to fill my prescriptions. Right now, I am still dealing with pretty bad fatigue, muscle aches and painful joints, (especially my hands & knees.) As a result, I have two speeds right now: slow and slower. 

Since I was almost out of groceries, this afternoon I decided to make a trip to Costco, list in hand, in an effort to be as quick as possible. Why Costco you ask? Not exactly a quick stop, ever. Yes, but they have a large selection of Gluten-free and organic stuff, along with great produce, and all for pretty great prices. Anyway, so I decided to brave the huge warehouse grocery store around 2pm, trying to avoid the crazy crowds. 

So there I am, gimpy little me, trying to push a huge cart around. This is the worst part of grocery shopping for me right now. It just makes me really, really tired. Anyway, at Costco I usually do a loop around the store, grabbing things from my list. After I was about half way around, with several items in my cart, all of a sudden the wheels on the cart totally locked up, and I was struggling to push the cart. Let me be clear here: I had already been struggling to push the cart around, now it was all I could do to get it to budge. I tried to figure out what the problem was, but I couldn't see anything...so, already really slow behind a shopping cart, I became even slower.

I was exhausted, too tired to go back and find a new cart, but exerting too much energy trying to push a cart that wasn't cooperating. It was also obvious that I was ticking off fellow shoppers with my snail-like speed. It's a horrible feeling when you are literally not able to do something, and instead of trying to be helpful, other people get mad at you. I was on the verge of tears, and ready to leave without my groceries, when miraculously whatever had caused the wheels to lock up immediately went away. I dunno. So I hurried, (as fast as I could) to get the last few items and get out of there. 

As I was trying to push the cart out to my car, there were two more incidents of people being rude because I was being slow. I really hope that these people had good reasons for their obvious and seemingly disproportionate frustration, like a family member in the ICU, or perhaps a wife in labor? I know I'm slow, and it's frustrating to me. But can't people be a little bit patient? 

After my humiliating shopping trip, I've recommitted myself to being nice to people. I know I don't necessarily look sick. I'm sure this adds to people's frustration with my slow and slower speeds...but you just really don't know what's going on with anyone. I'm realizing that I have the opportunity right now to learn all kinds of lessons about patience, compassion and understanding. I'm trying to remember them, and hopefully in the future I will remember that when I'm in a hurry at the grocery store.