Thursday, March 19, 2009

Car Hop Moment

Those of you that know me, know that I was an A&W car hop for 13 years of my life.  Yes, I did hang trays with frosty, ice cold mugs of root beer on car windows.  No, I did not wear roller skates--I was born during a more litigious era.

Today I experienced a moment that I hadn't experienced for years...the grandma change purse moment.  Almost all little old ladies had snap shut coin purses and counted out their change to the exact penny. These were the same ladies that would ask for change for a quarter so that they could give me a nickel tip.

You learned to be friendly and patient over the years.  You could be in the busiest rush, and hustling your rear end off--then, there would be this peaceful moment as grandma dug in her purse.  I learned to take those moments where I found them.  I didn't tap impatiently or try to hurry these women along.  

Today in Costco, there was a sweet grandma in front of me in line.  Her granddaughter was with her, and we all waited for her to pay the cashier.  I thought the man behind me was going to have a cow.  The cashier looked sour and irritated.  

I hope we all take time to remember someday we might need some extra time.  Also, busy moms out there, take those moments when you can find them.

6 comments:

Terri said...

Wow, thanks for the glimps into your past!!! How fun! What a good reminder of patience! Hope you have a wonderful spring day!

Anonymous said...

I absolutely loved hearing about all of this. You have a memory that a lot of us would love to have! Thank you for sharing this and for that wonderful little reminder about caring and patience. You're terrific!

Betty said...

I wish we had a good old fashioned car hop out here.

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Anonymous said...

OMG...I LOVED A&W and the whole carhop thing. You took me back to the late 60s/early 70s. Thanks for that. And thank you for reminding all of us to slow down. Everyone is so hurried, so impatient these days. The energy is so frantic and people are so unkind to those who can't keep the pace. I love when cars tailgate my Honda Element that goes about 65 when I floor it. They throw their hands up, pass me, flip me the bird and then we both end up at the next light at the same time. People need to relax!