The grocery store incident

Okay, I need to get this off my chest. It's been eating me alive for months, and I feel like a total jerk. It's about something so small, so stupid, but it keeps replaying in my head.

I was at the grocery store, right? It was a busy Saturday, the kind where you're bumping elbows with everyone and the lines are a mile long. I was already stressed because I had a ton of errands to run and I was running late.

So, I'm in the express lane – you know, the one for ten items or less. And this older woman gets in line behind me. She's got maybe seven or eight things, nothing crazy. But the thing is, she's fumbling with her coupons. She's digging through this overflowing purse, and she's got these tiny little coupons, and her hands are shaking a bit.

The cashier is ringing me up, and I'm trying to be patient, but honestly, I'm just so annoyed. I can feel my face getting hot. The woman is still searching for her coupons, and people behind her are starting to sigh. I even heard someone mutter something about 'slow old people'.

And then, the worst thing happened. I turned around to her, and I didn't yell or anything, but I said, in a really sharp voice, 'Seriously? Can you hurry it up? Some of us have places to be.'

Her face just crumbled. I saw the hurt in her eyes, and I instantly regretted it. She mumbled, 'I'm so sorry,' and finally found one coupon, but she looked so flustered she almost dropped it.

I paid for my stuff, grabbed my bags, and practically ran out of the store. But I couldn't shake the image of her face. I felt terrible. I still feel terrible. What right did I have to speak to her like that? She wasn't hurting anyone. She was just trying to save a few bucks.

I keep thinking about what I should have done. I should have offered to help her find her coupons. I should have just been patient. A few extra minutes wouldn't have killed me. But instead, I let my own stress and impatience turn me into a complete monster.

I don't know why this bothers me so much. Maybe because my grandma is getting older, and I can imagine someone treating her that way. Maybe because I know what it's like to feel overwhelmed and flustered in public.

I'll never see that woman again, but I really hope she's okay. And I really hope I can learn to be a kinder, more patient person. This whole thing just makes me feel so guilty.