Mauri and Sherry

Posted By Sherry on April 5, 2008

Quinn and I share a love for the movie “Overboard.” It’s one of those movies we’ve watched so many times that we quote from it in our everyday conversation. This morning, while I was out doing errands, I enjoyed the conversation with myself that repeated the phrase, “I almost had to wait.” Spoiled heiress Joanna Slayton (Goldie Hawn) spoke those words to one of her servants when she…horrors…almost had to wait.

I headed out with my list, stopping first at Newberg Recycle to drop off a tired computer tower. As I pulled into the crowded bin area, an attendant directed me to the back, where he met me as I opened my car door. I almost had to wait. Next stop: the no-appointment-necessary hair place. I signed in, sat down, and heard my name called. Suddenly the place filled with customers, who were told the wait would be 30 to 45 minutes. With hair wet and shorter, I walked next door to Freddies (local all-purpose store) to pick up this and that. Now, choosing the right check-out line can often take some serious evaluation; I can’t seem to just pick one and not watch the others to see if I chose well. Even when I’m not in a hurry. As I stood back, evaluating, a manager caught my attention and invited me to come to a new line she would open. Normally my sense of fair would not let me take advantage of other shoppers who had equal opportunity to choose from the lines. But this situation seemed different. Could I deny her special invitation?

At Chevron I had another line choice. All the ones that served driver-side tanks hung off the ends. But wait! There’s an attendant waving me to a line for passenger-side tanks. He must know something I don’t. He told me exactly how far up to pull so that the hose would reach, and gave me a fill-up. (For non-Oregon readers, we are not given the option of filling our own cars with gas.) With two items at Safeway, I HAD TO WAIT! No, wait! Someone opened another 15-or-fewer line.

For one glorious morning, I was golden!

So with all the time I saved this morning not waiting, I’ve spent writing about it. Mauri might call that the “theory of compensatory finance,” only with time, not money. What we didn’t spend vacationing at the Oregon Coast instead of Hawaii we can use to buy a big-screen TV, whether we had the money initially or not.

How does the time you’ve spent reading this account fit into that equation?

Categories: in the neighborhood
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