Bad Line Karma

I have it. Bad Line Karma, that is.

I'm not just talking about this cloud of bad luck that follows me anytime I try to pick a checkout line in a store, but any line in any type of situation. At the DMV. At a gas station. Tollboothes. Communion.

And I'm convinced it's cosmic, but there are too many things at play that conspire to get in my way -- a line cutter, a store trainee, etc. It's always something.

But I also believe Bad Line Karma also applies to related nuisances -- food deliveries getting screwed up. Technical difficulties once I get to the front of the line. Finding out something is not actually on sale. ALL OF THIS SORT OF $#%& CRAP ALWAYS HAPPENS TO ME!


Who else has got Bad Line Karma just like me?

I thought of my bad fortune yesterday when I called up to order pizza... I was actually going to pass the pizzeria on my way home. "Ready in fifteen minutes," he said.

Exactly ten minutes from when I made the call, I pulled into the pizza place, and went in to pay & wait. "Couple more minutes," the guy said.

Meanwhile, I sat there while a couple to-go customers got a slices & sodas. Nearing the ten minute mark, a woman came in to place an pie order. I began to think of Bad Karmas Past, and the only thing stopping me from being The Jerk In The Store was the fact that I knew some guys that worked there. In fact, here was was one of those guys right now....

I was about to make a comment about my MIA pizza, but then he mentioned he was moving so we chatted for a few minutes... and then a few more minutes.... That lady who came in was now leaving with her pizza pie. I saw this in the corner of my eye while we talked. The chat began to wind down, when he asked, "So, are you waiting for something?"

"Yes, actually..."

"Oh, well there it is."

He handed me my pizza box from a shelf around the corner and said, "I guess it's been ready."

GRRRRRR. How long would anyone have let me wait if I hadn't known someone who worked there? On one hand I was less mad, because if I hadn't been there that extra few minutes in the beginning, I wouldn't have seen this old friend at all. But the fact that I was still standing there after all these other walk-ins had already left didn't strike anyone else as weird?

I looked at my phone when I got in my car. Thirty minutes since I made the call.

HAPPENS TO ME ALL THE TIME. 'Nuff said.