lessons learned...they just never stop coming

I think I've reached that point in life when you realize that every single moment is a lesson in itself waiting to be discovered.

We went to CVS last night to pick up Troy's prescription.  Troy had dropped his prescription off earlier in the day and was told it would be ready around 7 PM.  When we arrived I saw the pharmacists were overwhelmed with prescription orders and trying to wait on customers.  I stood ever so patiently in line waiting our turn.  I was Mother Theresa in the Pharmacy of Chaos.  Smiling.  Patient.

UNTIL...it was our turn at the counter and the pharmacist had not filled either one of the prescriptions because she didn't know what one of them was.  Mother Theresa disappeared in the flash of an eye and Irritated Karen was left behind.  We explained to her what the confusing prescription was for and she told us to come back in 20 minutes.  Yeah, that didn't sit real well with Irritated Karen either.  I allowed my displeasure to be extremely clear on my face as we walked away.  "Why didn't she at least fill one of them?" Troy whispered to me.  (He's wise to Irritated Karen.  Tread carefully but carry a Big Stick.)

This is where Buddhism comes in.  It has taught me to observe, not the actions of others, but of myself.  So I asked myself, "Self, why are you so irritated?  They are obviously overwhelmed and have extremely inexperienced pharmacists trying to fill the prescriptions."

The answer:  I was irritated because I was inconvenienced.  All I wanted to do was go home, climb into my pj's, and relax into my evening.  Instead, I had to come back to the pharmacy to pick up the prescription.  Due to circumstances beyond my control, my wish for control was thwarted.  In other words, my irritation was completely and totally MY created emotion.  No one created it for me.  I decided to react that way to circumstances beyond my control because *I* had been inconvenienced.

What made this an even more powerful lesson was that a month or so ago, I was in another CVS and I went to check out at the Pharmacy to avoid the slow-moving line at the front of the store.  I was Happy-Mood Karen and pleasantly waited as the pharmacist assisted another customer.  The customer asked if the pharmacist could give her cash back, but he asked her not to because he had just opened his cash drawer and did not have much cash.  She was irritated with him, I assume, because of the inconvenience.  Just like I would be a month or so later.  I tried to comfort the pharmacist while throwing daggers at her retreating back for being so mean to the nice man.  I was Holier-Than-Thou-Because-I-Practice-Compassion-and-Understanding.

Funny how lessons change when the shoe is on the other foot, huh?