A fleeting encounter

I had an interesting experience with a total stranger yesterday.   

We were both in line at the grocery store and watched as the woman in front of us proceeded to put about 13 or 14 items on the belt in the express checkout line.  You have to understand that there’s a sign that practically screams “10 items or less” just below the big “Express Line” sign – there’s no way you can miss it. 

I noticed the woman in front of me look away with a grimace, and I quietly said to her, “you’re counting items, aren’t you?”  She looked at me and smiled and nodded and then we both started to laugh – we were both guilty of judging the woman in front of us.  And if we hadn’t laughed, we might have started a very different conversation. 

Instead of talking about how inconsiderate the woman was, we talked instead about our own experiences of being caught in the express line with more the allowable number of items – the times we’ve been in a rush and automatically headed to that line; of the time I was told by the express checkout clerk with no customers to bring my full cart through because she wasn’t busy, and then finding six angry people when I looked behind me; of how great the clerks  were and how much we like the store and how we discovered it after moving to the neighbourhood.  And we talked more, finding that every time we mentioned something new, the other had the same experience or was in a similar circumstance.  It was like meeting a new best friend.  And it all took place in about five minutes. 

You can never tell when or where you’ll meet someone you connect with.  I don’t expect I’ll see her again and even if I do, we won’t be best friends and we won’t arrange to meet for coffee.  We are strangers who shared an experience, a bit of conversation and a bit of ourselves.  It was a much nicer way to spend the time than glaring at the woman with too many items for the checkout.