Breathe and Smile

I read a bit of Thich Nhat Hanh's book, Breathe! You are Alive, recently.  Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who teaches calmness in the face of adversity.  He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in the past for his opposition to the conflict in Vietnam vs USA, and he is a great proponent for world peace.  One of his main focuses is upon breathing and meditation.  "Just breathe, and go slowly" is one of his mantras.  Lord, I did try this afternoon while waiting in the line at Walmart, but I'm only human.
The two ladies in front of me were using a combination of WIC, Foodstamps, Cash, and Credit.  If WIC wouldn't purchase their 3 gallons of milk, and foodstamps had already been  used, they relied on credit.  Unfortunately their credit card was rejected, and unfortunately for the line backing up, they couldn't come up with enough cash to purchase that extra gallon.  So let's call her Madam A takes the milk back to the rear of the store while we all stare down Madam B and tisk tisk her.  5 minutes later Madam A returns with two candy bars and a bottle of water.  The check out goes smoothly from there and it's my turn to check out my items.  All 12 of them.  I thought it would be easy.  
Millie with 15 years at WalMart was the cashier.  She wore that button proudly folks.  I made mention of it as I put my first item on the conveyor belt.  "Fifteen years, I said...you should be proud!"  "No melons on the conveyor", came her terse reply.  "We have a skew for them melons!"  Dammit, breathe I thought as I took the watermelon off the belt and put it in my cart.  My next item wouldn't fare any better.  "What's this?", she said looking inquisitively at my bagged fish I had selected from one of the aquariums in the store.  "It's a fish," I said.  "I know it's a fish sir, but what kind of fish is it?  I can't read the code...is that a 113 or a 118"?  
"It's a 3",  I said not really knowing if it was or not.  I just wanted out of WalMart before I lost my temper.
Now, an hour and a half later I can sit down and really take a deep breath while sitting at home.  I know I just returned from vacation only a few days ago, but somehow I feel a need for a little Jimmy Buffet and an ice cold drink.