I should clarify that. I'm not a Wal-Mart super-mega store shopper. Fortunately, we have a "Neighborhood" Wal-Mart right in my (yeah, you guessed it) neighborhood. No clothes or shoes or baby furniture but they do have a fairly decent selection of groceries and a pharmacy.
So, tonight, I needed to run in and grab a few things. And I do mean a few things. I qualified for the express check-out line. Or any of the other lines. As it turned out, just as I was ready to check out, all the previously open lanes closed. One solitary lane remained open. And the self-check things.
Usually, I am pretty easy going but, for some reason, having 6 items and being in line behind two or three people who were doing their monthly shopping and had overflowing baskets irritated me. I'm looking around as the checkers at the other --previously open but now closed -- lanes were eagerly wiping their conveyor belts and grinning like fools because they were that close to being off for the night. Did I mention this was at about 7:30 on a Sunday evening? In other words, I was not the last shopper in the store. The line behind me was starting to snake through the sodas and chips towards the milk and eggs.
Finally, the person in front of me managed to off-load her cart and the checker was working quickly trying to scan and bag all her items. At this point, I am doing deep-breathing exercises...and convincing myself that the sweet little teen-aged (they all look like teen-agers to me) checker was not to blame for the intelligence behind closing down all but one lane. I would smile. I would be nice. I would be ready to swipe my debit card and grab my stuff so the people behind me didn't start a riot.
You know what happened, right? First, the person in front of me put a portion of her groceries on one form of payment. Then she handed over the cash she had on hand. And, finally, she used her debit card for the rest. Or tried to anyway. Several times. Debit didn't work so she tried credit. And it was declined.
If you've ever experienced a declined card, you know how humiliating this feels. I certainly do. It's an awful feeling. The checker kept her smile in place and called over a supervisor so they could save the purchase to be paid once the customer had a chance to get someone to bring her some cash or another card. Except there was a glitch in that plan. Since part of the purchase had been paid using the first form of payment, the rest could not be saved (suspended is the word I think they used). We were all stuck in line at the only available register run by a live person.
Now, I've heard lots of negative things about Wal-Mart. Their business practices are shrewd and they have likely been the cause of any number of small business failures. It's possible that they deal with manufacturers who have less than stellar business practices in terms of child labor and human rights.
Funny thing, though. God shows up in Wal-Mart, too. The story has a feel-good ending...the lady received help from a fellow customer. One of the employees - the supervisor - shared with me that she had seen that sort of generosity over and over in her store.
As I walked to my car with my handful of groceries, I got to thinking about what had happened and how clearly we can - if we're open to seeing - see God at work right in front of our eyes, right in our midst. It's so easy to overlook, though. So easy to just be irritated by the delays or the bad planning or poor budgeting or whatever judgment jumps to mind as we focus on our needs and our time and our lives.
Who'd a thunk it? God in Wal-Mart...amazing.
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