By Michael Armijo
While at the ATM drive-through, a woman straddled both lanes in a two-lane aisle. I’ve been there a thousand times and not one person has ever straddled these lanes; they just pick one. Sometimes the line moves quickly, other times you have to wait while the cars next to you move right through. It’s a gamble, but we make a decision and we accept it.
Maybe it was the long day or maybe I just felt short-tempered, but while the woman straddled the lanes, I went around her car, and I picked the left lane. She got out of her vehicle and told me, “I’ve been waiting, you can’t go around me.” I explained my version of the unwritten policy of the drive-through ATM machine. She angrily got back into her car and waited again. As I drove up to the machine, I felt so uncomfortable. I knew she shouldn’t have just sat there, straddling both lanes, but who am I to react to her misdirection? The uncomfortable feeling made me sick inside, knowing that I never should have gone around her. So I backed up, allowed her to go first, calling out to her, “I’m sorry, go ahead of me.” She pulled up to the machine, finished her transaction, and her last words were, “Thank you for being fair.”
I believe the true essence of being a complete individual begins with the ability to communicate and present issues, views, and concerns in a dignified, fair, and understandable manner. Simple people do not get caught up in the unfairness in life. They do not listen with anger and retort with vengeance. They respond instead of react. And it’s their simplicity that keeps them humble and dignified. Simple people see or experience tragedy and work through it and not around it. Complicated people tend to do the opposite.
I also believe in responsibility. Not to just go to work, pay the mortgage, and get the kids to school, but to actually enforce that responsibility on the inside. We should not just promote a good life, but actually believe it and live it – at our jobs, in our society, and toward our fellow man – without pretense; with simplicity.
When I pulled in front of the woman at the ATM machine, I knew she was misdirected, and yet I reacted to her misdirection instead of responding to it. If it meant that much to me to not wait behind someone who couldn’t make a decision, I should’ve communicated with her. And if it didn’t mean that much to me, then I just should have just waited behind her and not given it another thought. Instead, I almost ruined her entire day, and who knows what that reaction could have done to her family and friends, and so on.
I believe that we, as a society, need to remember how important and how powerful we really are. We need to understand the true meaning of sharing experiences, being honest, open, and sincere. It will bring peace when you remember that you have so much to contribute to life rather than wasting it on bitterness, anger, frustration, or unfairness. Don’t just react, but respond accordingly and focus on the good things.
I believe the truest form of life is not just having the power to get your way, but using your power to help others find their way. That is a great reaction.
