Talk to the Hand

 

Standing in the “10 items or less” line at Tarzjay (AKA Target) recently, I found myself in line behind a woman who was covered head to foot in dark clothing. Hers was a brown sanctity tunic over a floor-length pocketed blue denim skirt, and a long amir hijab covered her head and face. The Birkenstock sandals exposed her perfectly French manicured toes. As I carefully counted the items in my basket, assuring myself I had not selected more than the limit of on-sale goods, I failed to take notice of the woman’s cart ahead of me. She had strategically hidden dozens of items under the heaps of colorful little girl dresses, flip flops, toiletries, candies, household and paper products and toddler swimsuits. She bartered back and forth with the young male clerk, questioning which items were drastically reduced and returning articles that were not clearly marked. As she held up the line, she teased David as his faced turned red when he finally mustered up the courage to say, “Next time Mam, you’ll have to use another line, this is reserved for express check out.” Ignoring his attempt to calm those of us in line re-counting our 10 - items or less postion in line, I chided, “You have far exceeded the limit of items in this line and your actions are unfair to those of us who have complied with the rules. My comments fell on deaf ears. Actually, the woman started speaking very loud in a language foreign to me. She left the line in a hurry, leaving behind her credit card. I ran after her with it in my hand, Ashmar Fahar, grabbed the gold plastic American express card without so much of a word or eye contact.

If you enjoyed British author Lynne Truss’ Eats, Shoots & Leaves you will find Talk to the Hand equally as amusing. I found myself nodding in agreement with as the author’s examples of rudeness caused my mind to wander… parents who spend quality time at the park with their kids all the while they are engaged in cell phone conversation; people who are in line at the store and carrying on cell phone conversations; adults who use the phrase “you guys” during lectures or in public settings. Made me think; better to talk to the hand then most people standing in line.