I wonder if warehouse stores are a significant part of the dehumanization of America. Over that last 24 hours I have been saddened by the reality that we are becoming less human and more animal. I was in Costco this afternoon to buy coffee and a four pack of socks (I know... how weird is that combination... I opted not to get the 1000 pack of AA batteries next to the toilet seat), and I decided to use the self check out. We have gotten to the place where you can even visit a store with 2000 people in it and not have to interact with any one of them... not sure this is healthy.  In any case, there was one person ahead of me; I was hanging back so as not to crowd the lady ahead of me. Two people rushed in, cutting ahead of me in line. Really... and by the way for those of you who think, "Kids just aren't courteous these days," they were older people. Then the lady behind me in line stood so close to me while I was "finishing and paying" that it felt funny entering the "pin" from my debit card... but I understand why she was doing it... she was trying to keep her spot in line!  When I went back to my car in the parking lot it took me about 10 minutes to get out of my parking space because no one would pause to let me back out. 

These experiences are juxtaposed to Sunday evening. My son Jonny and I went into an At&t store in Issaquah. We were in a bit of rush trying to get Jonny to the airport, the place was packed, and now you can "check-in" with an associate at the door. A new and improved version of "take a number." In any case, when we walked in it was crowded with people trying to get service. I noticed an older lady standing in the midst of the horde looking slightly perplexed in all the chaos. We had been there about five minutes before an "associate" came to sign us in, but I had been watching the lady watching the chaos. When they said to us, "have you checked in yet?" I said no, but, looking at this lady who was a few feet away from me, I said, "But she is ahead of us." She looked at me as though I'd just given her a $1,000 and said, "I have already checked in, but thank you so much, that was very thoughtful." Really... it was basic, not exceptional, courtesy, but it seemed exceptional to her. 

You know... we don't have to be Mother Teresa to change the world, though she certainly did. Just let someone go ahead of you in line. Here is one of the most remarkable things about Jesus in my view, "Though he was God he did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself taking the form of a servant." He considered others ahead of himself. This week if we all committed ourselves to let someone in, in traffic, let someone ahead of us in the checkout line, hold the door for another person, consider the possibility that you're not the CENTER of the universe for a second, just speak a kind word to another person, we really could change the world, and I don’t think that’s an exaggeration.  We're not going to cure cancer with this tactic... but perhaps we can make this place a more human place.

If I’m too busy to let someone in ahead of me, then I’m too busy and need to slow down. If I’m too self-important to consider others ahead of myself, then I've forgotten one of the central truths in life which is, that I’m not central!