Tunes in the Drugstore

Today, when I was whining to myself that taking six courses this term was one of my more stupid moves in seminary, I solved the problem of which assignment to start next by...

...starting none of them, and instead walking to CVS for yet another notebook. I stood in line with my book bag crammed full of reading that I'd brought along to take to Peet's, the new notebook cradled in one arm, and some odds and ends in the other. Of course, as soon as it was my turn in line, the items to be purchased spilled out from my arms. In bending over to retrieve them, I then dropped the contents of my purse. I held up the line. The cashier looked both bored and annoyed. Just then, a song played from the store's sound system: "Helpless, helpless, he--el--elp--less!" I think that the vocalist was Linda Ronstadt, singing about my pitiful, self-absorbed state of mind -- and I burst out laughing. When I looked at the cashier I was pretty sure that she would've paid me not to have been in her line. We so easily take ourselves too seriously. Thanks for the reminder, Linda.