One of the things that drives me crazy is to be in a group where when the group is going into a building or room the first person in the group stops as soon as they get in the door and everyone else has to go around them to get into the room.
I run into this a lot! People will walk in the door and start talking to someone else in the room while I'm coming in behind them. I'm left hanging out in the hallway or worse right in the middle of the door where all the other people in the area want to get through. It's embarrassing and it's frustrating so I make a dash around the person that I'm with to go around them to get into the room or building and then find somewhere unobtrusive to stand or sit while I wait.
I guess it's part of my desire to not get in other people's way. That's the driver. But it gets painful sometimes because often there's nowhere to go and I'm stuck in the doorway and people behind me are saying excuse me and can I get through here and the person in front of me is absorbed in whatever they're looking for or trying to find a seat or something.
I ran into this a lot when we went on a recent trip overseas. We went with a group of 20+ people. And over half of them were hearing-impaired or deaf. And so there were interpreters on the trip. When we would go into a room the interpreters would set up at the front and then the deaf people would all find a place to stand right where they could see the interpreter. Being one of the hearing people I brought up the rear and usually got left behind everybody. To the point that halfway into the trip everybody would pile into the room that we were in for a guide to tell us about something and there would be nowhere for me to get in to the room. Or if I could get into the room I couldn't see what everybody else was seeing because they had all taken central seats so that they could see the interpreter. I could see the empty seats beyond them where they could have seen everything just fine. But because they walked into the room and stopped because they had a good view where they were and everybody else filtered around him I didn't have anywhere to go. It became quite frustrating toward the end of the trip.
I ran into this with my kids. I tried to teach them as they were growing up not to do that walk in a doorway and just stop if you're with the group. I don't know how successful I was but all they lived in my house they got out of the way. And they made room for others.
I guess it's the conscientiousness thing. I know that when I'm in a group I'm not alone and so I try to look out for the rest of the group and I try to make room for the rest of the group even if that means I get the crappy seat. It's all about that being satisfied with second-best. It's a hard lesson in our society and not a lot of people accept it but it's in the Bible and it's in one of my favorite verses. The verse goes on to say and above all wear love, It's your all-purpose garment!
So while I get frustrated and my face shows it I still love. And I'm still thankful. Just think about the people behind you and make room.
