Moments lived in "piece"...returning injury with kindness...
I was at Starbucks ordering the usual - a tall non-fat chai tea latte with a dash of cinnamon for the Mrs. and a Vente drip, room for cream for yours truly. It was fairly busy; the line was normal and moving at an acceptable pace - good Starbuck's vibe going on.
The man in front of me got his order and it was my turn, so I rattled off my order to the 20 something guy behind the counter like a true Starbuck's pro. Just as I finished, the guy who was in front of me appeared and starting yelling, yes, YELLING..."Hey, do you think you guys can give me room at the top of the cup so when I open it I don't fbombing burn myself, what the fbomb, get me another fbombing blank, blank!"
Wow. Bad vibe.
I was stunned, the rest of the line was stunned and the Starbuck's dudes were both stunned and shaken by this outburst. It was clear they were embarrassed and it was also clear they were taking a bullet for something that was completely out of their control. Last time I checked, they don't open our lids when we add cream/sugar, etc. - we are big boys & girls and we are supposed to be able to do that ourselves....
The irate guy then turned to me and apologized for butting in....I said, calmly, "...no problem, there are worse things in the world..." - hoping to put some perspective on the situation.
When the 20 something's got the irate guy his drink and then came back with mine, it was time for me to pay. The line was getting long due to the delay, the Starbuck's guy's were clearly frazzled and visibly upset by the whole thing. When I got my change, I pulled out five bucks, showed it to them and said this is for you, have a great day. Their faces went from, this sucks, to, that's cool, instantly and they found a way to smile in that moment. Suddenly, all was right with the world again. Good vibe.
The 79th Verse of the Tao says, "Someone must risk returning injury with kindness, or hostility will never turn to goodwill." I couldn't agree more and encourage everyone to be that "someone". "piece"*
Guest "piece" 2.0 bloggers welcome!
*piece is the acknowledgement that we are all an equal part of the universe and should ACT (key word here) that way by considering people, planet and prosperity in each moment. Moments lived in "piece" result in peace on earth.