I was at the drive-through for Braum’s the other day. I had a super strong craving for a small chocolate malt. The woman I was behind was taking a ridiculously long time talking to the person taking her order. When it was finally my turn to place an order, I could tell the voice on the other end was shaking. She could barely say back to me what I had ordered. I was so concerned I asked her if she was “ok” because her voice was so wobbly. She paused for several moments before answering and responded in a soft, quivering voice filled with tears, “yes.”

From having watched the woman ahead of me, I assumed she was probably the culprit. Who knows though, maybe I was wrong. But, there had been something about her body language and the length of time of her order that suggested “high maintenance.” After placing my order, I pulled in behind her again while she was at the pickup window.

It was like watching a play-by-play. She took her time putting her change back in her purse. I’m talking like… 2 to 3 minutes. She seemed completely oblivious to the fact that the attendant was patiently holding out 2 cups of ice cream. When she finally looked up and the attendant tried to hand her the ice cream, she said something to her. The attendant took the ice cream back and the window closed.

A moment later, the attendant reappeared with lids put on top of the ice cream. The woman took them from her, and then turned around and handed them right back.. the attendant disappeared again, and this time came back with them placed inside a sack. Then, the woman spoke to her again and the attendant tightly rolled down the top part of the sack and handed her the sack of ice cream.

When I got my malt, the woman was parked in the middle of the exit looking through her purse again. I sat behind her for a good two minutes before she looked up and decided to pull out onto the highway. I don’t know, maybe she was highly frazzled and having a bad day ... or maybe not. I do know from the way she behaved towards both attendants, neither were paid enough, especially the young woman she brought to tears.

After a full day of work and then witnessing rude behavior, I couldn’t wait to get home, to my private sanctuary. I thanked the good Lord for having a place of my own. I wanted to get home and feed my chickens and goats and relax. I highly doubt the woman realized she managed to stress out three different people (it seemed like she did it without really trying).

I’m so thankful most people are not yahoos with over-the-top demanding behavior.