Own up

So I was at Smith's the other day; one of those in-and-out deals where I have one item to go through self checkout and leave. Understand: I have had lots of fun standing in line waiting for a self-checkout machine watching other people try to use them. This particular time there was a man who had just one item also, and was trying to get through fast.

I can understand trying to get through fast. When you have just one thing, you don't want it to take the same amount of time as 10 or 15 things. However, sometimes in the rush to be even faster, people sacrifice logic.

This man, when I found him standing there, began to beat at the machine and say "maybe if I hit the machine enough someone will finally come." Granted Smith's employees are sub-par, and the "please wait for an attendant" voice usually means "go get an attendant because you won't be helped anytime soon." That being said, the man was still holding the item in his hand and I could see on the screen from 20 feet away the message to "please place the item in the bagging area." He didn't need an attendant, he just needed to follow directions. I think that in trying to be faster, the guy forgot that the machine needs to make sure he isn't putting 2 items in his cart for every 1 item he scans...

I don't know how many times I've thought something along the lines of "this machine messed up," "I got the question wrong because the calculator gave me the wrong answer," "there must be something wrong with [insert something or someone else here]." Fortunately I think I do a pretty good job of recognizing when it just might be my fault rather than someone/something else's. Calculators are never wrong.

Similarly, it seems to me that about 95% of the time people say "someone stole my [keys/wallet/etc.]" that they were really just misplaced by the person. (Matt - this isn't directed at you, I promise :-P I just now remembered about your bag at the Law College.)

On the mission, it's always that your companion is the hard-to-deal-with one. In high school it's always that the teacher doesn't like you. And I'm sure you've noticed that everyone who drives slower than you is an idiot and everyone who drives faster than you is a maniac, right?

"The woman thou gavest me, and commandest that she should remain with me, she gave me of the fruit of the tree and I did eat.
"And I, the Lord God, said unto the woman: What is this thing which thou hast done? And the woman said: The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat."

(Okay, that last one was just a joke. It was just the first thing that came to my head when I thought about putting blame elsewhere. Don't get offended.)

Let's own up to our mistakes. Oh, and don't forget to do what you're supposed to and not get distracted by wanting to place the blame somewhere it isn't due. In the rush to find a scapegoat, it seems we neglect little (but important) details, like placing your item in the bagging area.