Catchy attitude

5:01 p.m. Today's project for the afternoon was to get some pictures made at CVS in Mission Grove, where Steve and I were headed to get a refund for pedicure brushes I hadn't used at my spa party last night.

Since I had some nice pictures of my grandson and also of friends from last week's garden party, it seemed like a nice little "thinking of you" gift for important people in my life. Besides, I haven't gotten physical pictures made in months, because I store and post them online. I wonder if photo machines are long for this world!

Steve and I pulled up a couple of stools at the kiosk and I began the process, selecting just 13 pictures to print. It went speedily, with no edits or enlargements, except to rotate a picture of my friend Charlotte in her garden party hat. $3.19, not bad, before the Extra Savings discount I would get later on my whole cartload. (If most of their carts hadn't been stolen, but that's a topic for another day).

Time to scan our barcode under the laser beam, see the order number 6091 on the screen, "Pictures remaining:13, " and let the print machine start dropping snapshots. Nothing was produced but promising noises, and one blank picture. The machine we put the order into read, "Errors" and "Call an associate."A young associate, Jamie, had been over once to say hi in between customers at the counter, and at that point, all was well. "Good," she'd said, "I can use some good news, because this machine has been acting up today!"

So we were feeling a bit shy about signalling her over, but we did, and in a break between customers, she restarted the machines with her passcode. We had some bantering conversation, about how long the store trained them on the machines, and how awkward this was on a busy day. She tried several things and then the machine got going again, and she went back to the counter.

I liked her upbeat attitude, and Steve even managed a quick comment during the conversation, something that isn't always possible for him. We would have preferred to get on our way, but weren't in any official rush. So while Steve stayed at the kiosk watching for pictures to drop, I went to get a refund on two unused pedicure brushes and selected and paid for a Father's Day card for him. Back to the photo machines after my transaction, I found that Steve had seen no progress. No sense getting upset! When the associate came back again, we all ruefully laughed, and she said, "You have to laugh to keep from crying with this machine," and I pointed out, "It's the machine--not your fault at all!" When she opened the printer once again, she ascertained that the paper was about at the end of the roll, so she had another clerk take over the lengthening line and inserted a new drum. (I only know the lingo from fighting with one of the copy machines at Ina Arbuckle Elementary, site of my last teaching assignment).

This time, I completed my shopping list and placed the items on unoccupied counter space-still no carts--while Steve kept watch on the machine. I went ahead and paid for the pictures with the rest of my items to keep from having Steve be rushed because my turn had come to check out. When I returned, he had a handful of pictures, I counted 13, with doubles of two of them, and we were all set to go. What a relief.

I hope we were a good witness to Jamie, and we appreciated her diligence and positivity in a stressful, busy time at the counter. Despite all of the machine's obstinacy, she even remembered to get my CVS Extra Care number both times I checked out, and offered to carry out the big packages of t.p. that we had, but that was not needed, especially with a line behind us.

Proverbs 15:15 says,

All the days of the afflicted are evil, but he who is of a merry heart has a continual feast.

And life's feast begins with a great attitude toward the annoyances of life!