My best life hack involves transforming common moments, which can typically be anxiety-causing. This often happens in public, particularly while doing errands or encountering customer service in some form. Last week, my husband and I were having lunch in downtown Chicago at noon. I was amazed at how fast our food arrived and it appeared to be well-prepared. I complimented the waiter: “That was FAST!” He looked around and said, “You’re the only ones in here!” And everybody laughs.
Errands, in particular, seem to be one of life’s not-so-little irritators. At Starbucks yesterday, I ordered at the left counter and the clerk handed the latte to me at the right counter. I went back to the left counter and ordered a glass of ice water.. “That’ll be 19 cents,” she said, embarrassingly. “That’s fine, I understand.” She explained it was for the cup. I paid and went to the right counter. The clerk approached with my water in a huge 16 oz cup. “WOW!” I said, “now THAT’s a cup of water! You’re not charging enough. I would’ve paid double.” We laughed because she could see how tickled I was. Not only that people had watched me go from left counter to right, back to left and back to right. Quite comical if you think about it. I left that errand, feeling quite happy.
Not only do I try to find the funny in the mundane, but the moments are then written in a journal. We always think we’ll never forget the funny stuff, but we will.
