Missing the Mark?

As I was checking out my items at the local Target last week, a man stood behind me with a few items of his own.


I only tell you this next part so that you can get a visual image...the man was an older, very short Chinese man wearing a windbreaker and glasses. He was purchasing three containers of hot chocolate mix.


In case anyone is thinking of accusing me of being racist, allow me to quote Jerry Seinfeld on this issue: 


"If I LIKE their race, how can that be racist?"


Anyway...


As the conveyor belt moved forward and transported my items to the front of the line, they also began to move his items forward. His items were at least 2 feet away from mine when the conveyor belt began to move.


Well, the man lurched forward, put both arms over his items and pulled them back towards him as the conveyor belt tried in vain to move them.  


...wow.


When I glanced slowly back at him to see who I was dealing with, he avoided my gaze, looked down, and slowly released his hold on his hot chocolate as the conveyor belt stopped. 


I thought to myself, "What exactly does this man think is going to happen here?"


Here are some possibilities of what was going through his mind:


- "My hot chocolate is going to be stolen and I am too small and old to fight this tall, strong, handsome man for it."


- "My hot chocolate is about to be stolen, and I fear that I may instinctively use my karate, if provoked. This would be unfortunate."


- "Just because I am old does not mean that I need a conveyor belt to move my hot chocolate. I can do it myself. I will show you in a moment."


- "Oh no. I have left my wallet in the car. Must stop hot chocolate from moving forward."


- "If my hot chocolate touches this man's Blu-Ray, I could go bald."


- "I did not know that there would be a conveyor belt or I would have worn my sneakers...I cannot possibly keep up."


- "I do not like the other people who shop in this store. They are trashy and tall. Why don't they just go to Wal-Mart where they belong."


Was he thinking that I might see his hot chocolate, decide that I wanted some, and just take it from him?


Was he thinking that I might accidentally pay for his hot chocolate and take it home while he was looking at the magazines?


What exactly is the potentially threatening/dangerous scenario that causes people to do this? 


Here we are, two grown men, standing at a check-out line...


Instead of assuming that we will be able to clear up any misunderstanding with the cashier concerning mixed up items (by talking with her about which items belong to us and which ones don't), one of us feels the need to put at least 17 feet between my items and his. 


What is the worst that could happen in this situation? Let's say that he and I aren't paying attention and she accidentally rang up his items with mine...


Cashier - "That'll be $38.94, sir."


Me - "Oh no."


Chinese Man - "Oh no."


Cashier - "What seems to be the problem, sir?"


Me - "You rang up his items with mine."


[pause, as I exchange frightened, and potentially hostile looks with the Chinese man]


[music plays - from one of those old Clint Eastwood movies where nobody is really speaking English except for Clint]


Cashier - [hysterically, breaking into tears, running in small circles and flailing her arms] "WHAT???WHY DIDN'T YOU USE THE STICKS!!?? WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW?? I HAVEN'T TRAINED FOR THIS!!! AAAAAHHHH!!! JONAS, PULL THE ALARM, WE'VE GOT MIXED-UP ITEMS!!! AAAAAHHHHH!!!  KELLY, CALL SECURITY IN CASE HE TRIES TO ESCAPE WITH THE HOT CHOCOLATE!!! AAAAAHHHHH!!!! BARNEY, GET THIS CHINESE MAN OFF OF THIS BALD MAN...I THINK HE'S GOING TO KILL HIM WITH HIS KARATE!!! IF YOU HAD JUST STAYED AT WAL-MART WHERE YOU BELONG NONE OF THIS WOULD BE HAPPENING!!!"


See? Not very realistic.  


Let me say this: I do understand the little sticks that they have. I use those sometimes, but only because there are people at the store who have NO respect for the personal space of my items. They put their stuff RIGHT NEXT to mine and I just can't have that. 


This was different, though. I was almost offended by this (not quite, though). I had no evil plans for this man's hot chocolate, but I got the distinct impression that he thought I might. 


Sometimes I wonder if we are losing the ability to communicate with people. 


On some level, I think that supermarkets, large retail stores, & consumerism in general have created a distance between people that God never intended. We stand right next to people all the time and yet we never speak. We seem more concerned about what we are about to buy than we are about the person standing right behind us. 


Jesus saw people. I doubt that He would have ever stood in line anywhere and not talked to the people around Him. 


On one occasion, a very large crowd had gathered to see Him and He "saw" Zacchaeus in a tree. Why? Because he was looking for him. 


As Christians, I'm not sure if God is concerned with what we buy at Target; but I'm pretty sure He is concerned with the other people around us. Maybe we should start trying to pay more attention to them so that we can be more like Him. 


But let's keep the sticks. I like those.