DRS: Not My Finest Hour...

FacebookXPinterestEmailEmailEmailShare

Today I was at the post office. The lady at the counter next to me had a lot of business to take care of. The lady in line behind her kept jiggling her keys and loudly sighing, which meant, "Hurry up, chick. You're holding me up." It is frustrating when you're trying to take care of business in a hurry, but hey, the post office is there to serve everyone's needs and you simply have to wait your turn. Finally, little Ms. Impatient decided she couldn't wait another second and made a dramatic exit, which prompted everyone to stare at her, look at each other and shake their heads.

Not sure why, but the episode reminded me of something I did when my husband was deployed. Something I'm not very proud of.


Do you remember Erin's story? I had something very similar happen to me. I had been standing in line at the drug store for what felt like forever. There were two cashiers but one single line. Most people realize that the person at the front of the line gets to check out at whichever station becomes available next. It's not rocket science. Just as it was my turn, a lady came from out of nowhere and walked up to the available register, as if all ten people were standing in line for the other one.

I.Was.Incredulous.

I had patiently waited my turn, and was totally shocked at the audacity of the woman who had to know that she broke in line, yet had no shame whatsoever in doing so. A public hissy-fit, whether I'm in the right or not, isn't something that I generally wish to throw. But on this occasion, I did.

I walked up to the counter, plopped my items down and without looking at the lady standing there, told the cashier that I was next in line. Then, I looked at the intruder, pointed to the rather obvious line of people behind me and loudly said, "The line is there and I suggest you go to the back of it." She began mouthing off at me. I kept looking forward at the poor cashier who was clearly uncomfortable being in the middle of a customer disagreement, even though the intruder kept coming at me fast and furiously saying things like, if you can believe this, she had never seen someone behave so rudely in public.

Actually, I was rather rude with my huffiness and ordering her to the back of the line. A better person would have let it slide and not caused a scene. But I snapped and decided to take on the cause of everyone who has ever been a "victim" of line breakers. Believe it or not, the lady did not go to the back of the line. She waited right there beside me until I checked-out (yapping at me the whole time). I didn't look back when I was leaving the store, but I was hoping the next person in line would have bumped her, too. Or, that the cashier would have told her to go to the back of the line.

Nobody who witnessed the scene would have faulted me (they were probably giving me mental high-fives), but immediately after leaving the store, I was embarrassed and rather shocked by my sudden outburst.

Like Erin, this happened when my husband was deployed. Sadly, you can turn on just about any television channel these days and find some expert making excuses for all kinds of bad, strange and unacceptable behavior. I say we get in on the action, too, so I've invented a new term. Deployment Rage Syndrome (DRS, for short).

I don't know about you, but whew am I glad there is a term for this now. It's sure to help us in countless ways in the future.

Hey, did you hear that she ran over the Colonel's kid in the commissary with her cart?

Yeah, but she's suffering from DRS

Oh, well, then.... Poor Dear!


Story Continues
SpouseBuzz

Military Spouse Videos

View more