Learning To Let Go
A few nights ago, I left work around 3am and stopped by the nearby pharmacy on the way home. I had a prescription refill ready and I needed it right away. I approached the Pickup counter and waited to be helped by one of the two associates working behind the counter. There was a Pharmacist who was busy counting pills and refilling prescriptions, and another associate who was restocking some of the medicines on the shelf. I wanted for a minute, thinking surely someone would greet me any second now. When no one acknowledged me for a hot minute, I placed my keys on the counter to gently make my presence known. After another good pause, the associate who was stocking looked over and asked, “Is there something I can help you with?” Y’all, I was straight up baffled by this question and I know I didn’t hide it very well in the tone of my voice when I said, “Um yeah, I need to pick up a prescription.” Obviously. Like, literally what else would I be standing in the pickup line for? Not only did she not stop what she was doing to help me, but the Pharmacist eventually had to stop what she was doing as the other associate told me she would be with me in a minute and simply went back to working on stocking. Undoubtedly terrible customer service. I finished out my transaction with the Pharmacist and left the store thinking of all the smart comments I could/should have said to the store associate. I was utterly annoyed and felt like I didn’t do enough to let her know how terribly rude she was acting.
We all experience situations like this, right? When someone “does us wrong” and we don’t really respond at the time, but then later can’t stop thinking about all the things we should have said to really stick it to them. I won’t deny that I have found myself to be a little hot blooded at times, letting things get to me more than I should. It genuinely gets to me when people are rude or indecent, and don’t even get me started with bad drivers. It’s times like these I think about what my father would do. I have been surprised countless times by the way he reacts to frustrating situations. I can be hot as all get out (that’s southern for “mad as hell”) in the passenger’s seat, blood boiling about the car in front of us going 30 mph when the speed limit is 45, and my dad’s response is simply, “we’ll get there eventually.” Or “there’s nothing we can do about it, so don’t let it bother you.” I have seen him handle some of the most frustrating situations with a shrug of the shoulders, not getting upset because he knows it’s not about him. I’m sure he hasn’t always been this way, but he has learned to live by this attitude. And with some practice, I’m learning as well.
What would I have actually gained by making a rude comment to the woman at the pharmacy counter? Would it have made me feel better? Maybe, temporarily, but not for a good reason. Perhaps I can shift my mindset and know that I don’t need to have the last word to feel better. Would she have felt ashamed for her lack of customer service? Most likely, no as she clearly wasn’t all that concerned with her performance. Could I have possibly gotten her in trouble with her boss? Maybe, but that’s not what I wanted my accomplishment to be that day.
How much happier can we be if we just learn to let things go? By practicing this mindset, we are not only refusing to contribute to the excessive and unnecessary hostility in the world around us, but also benefitting ourselves and our own mental well-being. Brush it off. Let it go. Will it matter a week from now? A year from now? Forget about it. Remember, the way others behave is rarely ever about you. We can be much happier and more free when we don’t let every little thing affect us. Learn to let the small things go and live a little lighter.
