Brethren

After lunch I decided to buy a cup of coffee. As the receipt was printing the clerk, for some mysterious reason, decided that his hands were too dry. So, he squirted some moisturizer into his hands.

I was a little taken aback. I mean, is that even normal? What clerk decides to apply hand moisturizer while he's working the counter?

The clerk handed me my receipt. He had yet to finish working all the moisturizer into his skin. So, my receipt was duly moistened.

Wow, I'm thinking to myself, this is really weird. Am I being Punked or something?

It gets worse. My coffee's sitting in it's cup. Being in a helpful mood, the clerk decided to hand it to me...after he's put the lid on. Now, I don't even mix sugar into my coffee. I certainly won't take any hand moisturizer, thank you very much.

Wow, I'm thinking to myself, is Jamie Kennedy about to pop out and obnoxiously tell me I've been "Xed?" (Is that show even on anymore? The WB isn't terribly choosy when giving out TV contracts, is it?)

What surprised me most was my reaction. I was angry for about ten seconds. Then I smiled and laughed to myself. That clerk is a total goofball, but I'm sure I've done equally stupid things in my time (in fact, I'm sure of it). This was no great crime, no offense against me (not that I should get angry if it was on purpose; Christ ws crucified and let it slide). It was yet another example of the charming quirkiness that characterizes man. We can be so weird sometimes.

I can have a pretty bad temper at times. But not this time. Prayer and fasting sure do wonders. I'm still a rotten person, but perhaps not as rotten as I'd otherwise be.

Meta-note: As I write this, I can't help but have a twinge of smug self-satisfaction. Look at me, I'm so charitable. I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to be a wonder-working saint. Guys like that can heal a blind man in the middle of a cheering crowd and walk away humble as anything, having never lost sight of the fact that God's Grace is behind it all. Meanwhile, I can't even have a minimally charitable thought without wanting to pat myself on the back.

Lord, save me.