Exercising Impatience

I pulled into a doctor’s parking lot the other day and noticed that most of the parking spaces were clearly marked, “Patient Parking.” But one spot in the corner caught my eye. The sign there said, “Impatient Parking.”

My first thought was that this physician had a sense of humor. But after a day of dealing with grumpy customers, I thought that the “Impatient Parking” sign might be under-represented in the doctor’s lot. Based on my experience with unhappy customers, I think widespread remedial courses on basic kindergarten courtesy skills would probably be a good idea.

My heart goes out to any worker who has his or her time wrapped up in directly serving customers, whether in retail, food and beverage, or parenting. I know it can be hard to make customers feel satisfied, given their unrealistic expectations and incredible self-centeredness. For most people, who have to deal with all of the frustrations of this world, being a purchasing customer is their only opportunity to have any expectations of things going their way. After all, if you can’t get what you want when you buy the hot dog off the rolling warming conveyer at the convenience store, when can you expect things to go your way?

Paul calls us to show patience if we hope to model Christ for others (including, I presume, customers).

“Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:1-3 NASB)

If you deal with customers during most of your day, you have my sympathy. I’d love to hear how you find patience in the midst of your work day. Let me know you secrets to achieving Paul’s admonition.

And I’ll tell you how the nurses reacted when I discovered that someone had parked in my spot!