I am a rule follower. It's a little annoying to others that I obsess about knowing ALL of the rules/expectations and then following them. "Uptight" probably is a better descriptor than "care-free" when it comes to rules.
On the bottle of my thyroid medicine it says, "Do not eat for thirty minutes after taking medicine." Well, I watch the clock. 30 exactly, not 29 minutes, nope if it says 30, they really mean 30! I'll wait until that minute hand reaches the 12 before I eat my breakfast. If there's a "No right turn on red" sign, just forget it. You can honk all you want at me. But hello I'm not going to get a ticket just so you can arrive somewhere 5 minutes faster. Chill out! I'll go on green, and p.s. thanks for the dirty look when you speed past me.
Even as a kid, I tried to follow all of the rules. I remember crying when I figured out that I missed a step on an assignment, or when my mom got pulled over by a cop for speeding. I've always obsessed about being in accordance with rules and procedures.
Speaking of my mom, she doesn't necessarily follow the rules. It drives me crazy. If there is an available shoulder to pass a line of cars, we'll off-road it. I just about die every time she tries to take back things at stores. If there's a sign saying, "No receipt, no exchange," she just ignores it. She puts on the charm, and before you know it we're walking out with cash in hand for an item they carried 6 months ago.
Well today one of my biggest fears happened while I was waiting in line to check out at HEB. I never have under 10 items in my basket. If you do, I'd like to shake your hand, and then ask how you do that. So I'm in line behind the family carts waiting patiently for my turn at the check-out. This worker comes up to me and says, "Ma'am, you can go to the express check-out. There's no line."
Ummm, ummmm that would be breaking the cardinal rule of grocery store checking-out.
"Do not get in the express line if you are over 10 items." Even if I have 11 items, I'll wait in the family lines.
Well I pretend I don't hear her. She can't obviously see because I'm close to 40 items, so I can pretend I can't hear. We're even.
"Ma'am there's no wait at the express check-out."
Flashback moment to shopping at HEB with my mom>>>> You know how when you're standing 5 deep in the line, and a cashier opens up a new line. The cashier will say, "I can help who ever is next." Well my mom always assumes this is her. Everyone knows the next person up to the register should get first dibs with the new cashier. Not my mom. I have explained this over and over. She just replies with, "Penny, I have lots of things to do besides wait in line." The other people clearly don't as I duck my head and follow her lead. I know they want to abandon their groceries to follow us out in the parking lot just to ram their carts in our car.
Back to the story....
Me: "But ma'am I don't have 10 items."
HEB worker: "But I'm the manager."
Me: "Yes ma'am!"
Dangit! How could I argue with the manager. She calls the shot; no one hears her; and now I'm the idiot who can't count.
I immediately turn as red as my sweet smelling strawberries which are probably item number 48. And what do you know, there's a lady who comes up right behind me with 4 items. Bless her. She probably has her car running with a dog or an elderly person waiting on her. And here I am against my will unloading and unloading and unloading my cart. Blasted manager. I tell the clerk in a really loud voice, "I'm sorry I don't have ten items, but the manager told me to come to this line."
Great, now I can't count and I'm pathetic.
The clerk was like, "whatever you liar." Can you imagine how many times they hear that line in a given week? Note to self: Don't mention to mom. She'll start using that one.
What a stressful ending to my joyous trip to HEB.
And you can guess correctly, I declined help out to my car.
And I know they don't use that line in the express line. I should have stuck around to see if they offered the lady with 4 items help out. Doubt it!
