Picture this: I was at a luxury coffee shop when my daughter caught sight of a glorious fruit shake. Now, any parent knows that once a child has their heart set on something, there’s no turning back (at least, this is the case for me…). So, with a sigh and a smile, I agreed to order her the shake she so desperately wanted.
“Mama, can I have one, please, please, please?!” she pleaded, her eyes wide.
“Sure, sweetheart, ” I replied…
And then something unexpected happened.
It began. The cries. The whines. The never-ending, terrible, loud chorus of “Mama, mama, mama, I want it now, now, now!! Where is the shake, mama?!”
Once it was my turn to order, I quickly asked for the chocolate-banana shake and stated how I wanted to pay, hoping the barista would feel the urgency of delivering this bloody shake ASAP to calm my daughter’s screaming.
But to my surprise (and frustration), she remained calm, going about her routine as if my child’s world wasn’t collapsing before her eyes.
After some time, trying to contain my kid’s restless screams I thought to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Yes! Finally! The barista was finished. She placed the shake on the counter next to her. But, wait, what? After finishing the shake, she continued simply washing the mixing bowl.
“WASHING THE MIXING BOWL?! You must be kidding me! Common! Is that so important right now? How could she!?!? She heard my girl crying, right?” I thought to myself. “Why is she just following her routine? Doesn’t she see that my daughter is on the verge of a meltdown??”
And then it hit me.
This barista was simply everything I was not.
She was unimpressed. Unimpressed by the pressure laid on by anyone else. Instead of succumbing to the chaos, she remained steadfast, focused on the order of her tasks at hand. No matter if the pressure came from a cute little screaming girl with a helpless mom. She didn’t let the noise of others dictate her actions or change her routine. She believed that waiting is part of the game and everyone simply had to deal with it.
And you know what?
It was kind of refreshing.
As I watched her, my frustration transformed into admiration. I realized that I let my daughter stress me out unnecessarily. I so often let my daughter guide my course of actions, that I expected others to do so as well…
Finally, the lady handed over the long-awaited banana-chocolate shake to my daughter, who, in the blink of an eye, went from tear-streaked to sipping with all smiles.
So the next time I find myself caught in the chaos of life, I think back and try to channel my inner unimpressed barista. Let the shakes wait, while savoring the sweetness of a clear and focused mind in any circumstance.