Adventures in humility

Usually when I start to feel sorry for myself because I'm tired and swamped, I have nothing to complain about, i.e. I'm running from a theater performance to a ballet performance to an outing with friends to a bike ride. This morning, I had some much less exotic adventures on my plate: I had to renew my license in person (for the eye test), open a bank account, and redeem a Groupon out in Landmark. I also had to get a patio umbrella base in Kingstowne, which is why I decided to just hit Franconia for the other errands. This all took hours, partly because of returning traffic into Old Town. I left the house around 8:30 and got back after 1pm.

I couldn't really be annoyed, because I passed the eye exam with no issues (I was worried that I'd get a restriction, would have to drive with glasses, but it was fine). The wait was bad, but not awful. It was the wait at the bank that got to me. See, I'd closed Citi when they threatened to levy monthly fees, and I closed Suntrust when I refinanced (monthly fees without the accompanying mortgage), so I no longer had a brick and mortar bank. And I needed one. I just got a big check from Suntrust for unused escrow, and wasn't about to mail it for deposit. But I digress.

The guy opening the account for me was asking me about my job. He had to ask where I worked to open the account, but he was asking because he'd soon be in a market for a full-time job. He was getting his MBA--commuting a ways to school and work--and feeling despondent about the job market. All I could say was, 'hang in there, things are looking up.'

Then I went to redeem my Groupon at the AT&T store. The guy looked tired. It was his second job. He'd worked all night--in demolition--and then all day, at the mall.

After my round of crazy errands, I could go home and take a nap (well, do yardwork is the reality, but a nap is possible). That's quite the blessing.