Costco on the weekends isn’t a place for the faint of heart. When the parking lots are packed and the lines are a mile long, people get a little squirrely.
One of the most dangerous places in the store is in the back by the chicken roasters. Even though they have six ovens working overtime, on the weekends when no one wants to cook, there’s always a line waiting for the next batch of roasted birds to be put on the shelf.
For those of us that were waiting, there seems to be a code of honor. Most people kind of know who was there first and who gets the next chicken. Today, we were all working so well together that a nice, neat, organized line formed in front of the meat freezers as we held onto our oversized shopping carts and watched more and more people join our organized que.
Within five minutes, the next batch was ready and we all advanced one at a time, picking up our dinners. As I approached the counter and grabbed my chicken, a plain looking middle aged woman walks up from the opposite direction and starts taking the chickens that were intended for the people behind me in line.
Thinking she didn’t see the line, I kindly said, “I’m sorry. There’s a line and people have been waiting for those for a while now.”
She pretended not to hear me at first, so i stood there until I knew I had her attention. I repeated my statement and she simply replied with, “Yeah. I know” as she continued to pick up the chickens.
“And you’re still going to take the chickens?”
“Yeah.”
And she walks away.
We Live In A Broken World
On Saturday afternoon it was confirmed that there are some people that place their own needs over others. They don’t do it accidentially. They aren’t ignorant or making a mistake. They choose to disregard the welfare of others to meet their own interests.
Sometimes it’s just a chicken. Other times it’s things that are much more valuable and precious.
And it’s in those moments that we, the offended parties, have to choose how to respond. Do we overreact and cause a scene? Do we try to get even? Do we say something rude and offensive?
Every single one of those things crossed my mind. I wanted to do something to make her take responsibility for her calloused actions. But it’s not my place.
She chose to compromise her integrity for two chickens. And I have to fight to make sure I don’t do the same thing for my two chickens.