Waiting in Line

*A rant follows. I'll try to be funny, but it's a rant nonetheless*

Have you ever noticed those people in stores who seem incapable of waiting in line? You know the type. They bounce from line to line trying to find the fastest one. Or they hop in the express "10 items or less" aisle with an entire basket of groceries. For whatever reason, their time is extremely valuable, and apparently often more valuable than anyone else's time.

This is the type of people with whom I've been dealing, all week. It's near the end of the month, and it's approaching the end of a year. Accounting departments around the country are concerned about closing their books. So, they call me. Each MUST have their invoices IMMEDIATELY. And each time, like that person that jumps in front of a line at the store, they expect that the other companies patiently waiting for their invoices should wait even longer.

Oddly enough, this can occassionally be seen in triathlon, as well. While most participants are truly attempting to make way and avoid excessive contact, we have all read the stories of highly competitive individuals who seem to take pleasure in going over or through other racers.

I try to do the opposite. If someone seems to be in a rush, I'll let them go ahead of me. In a race, I almost feel bad when I make contact with another swimmer. I know it freaks me out when someone starts beating on my feet (or head, body, etc). So, I try to stay out of other people's space. Of course, going into Ironman, I know I'll have to overcome this, at least a bit.

Think about this as you go about your day. Do your actions force others to take a back seat? If so, is there anything that can be changed? Everybody's lives are full of important deadlines.

I'll end this rant here. Mostly because there are some accounting departments that will apparently explode if they don't receive my invoices.