Larry, Tim and I went to the CCU ministry fair to try to find some students to help out in our children's area for Sunday services. Had some good contacts, so it looks like we should be about where we need to be for the relaunch. Afterward Larry and I went to meet Aaron out at Mount St Joe College to watch CCU play them in soccer. We stopped off at Burger King to get some dinner, went inside, and had to wait an unusually long time to get our food. No problem, though, as we weren't in a hurry. Before we left they asked Larry if he wanted some sauce for his chicken and he said he wanted buffalo sauce. Trying to show we weren't butt-head customers who were put off about the delay, I joking asked, "What part of the buffalo does the sauce come from?"
Sure, not a great joke, but there are worse ones I could've made. So as we're just about out the door the cashier makes an obnoxious "huh, huh, huh" laugh, obviously mocking me for making what she deemed a corny joke.
Ooooh, I was steamed. I might still be. It's funny how the little things can light a fire under me. I guess what bothered me so much is that I tried to be extra-friendly because I wanted to come off as extra-understanding and it accomplished nothing but set myself up as an object of ridicule.
This experience serves as a valuable reminder to me at a critical time in my life: not everyone will like you, regardless of how hard you try. When you start a church, you desperately want people to like you because you need people at your church. Usually this means that you'll go to extraordinary lengths, perhaps even sacrifice your values, in order to win friends and influence people. It's just something you gotta resist. You have to be comfortable being you and trust God will take care of everything else.
Yes, I wanted to go back in and tell her where to shove her chicken fries. But I resisted. Mama used to say if you don't have anything nice to say . . . well, you know. And if I don't have thick enough skin to handle a BK cashier, then I have further to go than I've ever imagined.