Recently, I was standing in the checkout line at a local department store. The woman in front of me was talking on her cell phone. As she approached the cashier at the register, she continued talking on her cell phone. In fact, throughout the entire process of making her purchases . . . she carried on her conversation with her unknown friend on the other end of the call. The young girl who was checking her out actually had to interrupt her conversation several times in order to complete the transaction.

As the woman collected her packages and walked out of the store, she never stopped talking on her cell phone. Not once.

I was amazed.

As I made my purchases, I asked the cashier if that happens often? “If what happens often?” “Do people ignore you while they’re checking out by continuing to talk on their cell phones?” “Oh yeah, all the time.” “How does that make you feel?” “I hate it, but what can I do?”

So, since that young girl doesn’t feel like she can do anything about people being rude to her, treating her as if she had very little value, while continuing their all important conversations, how about you and I doing something about it?

How about you and I ending our conversations on our cell phones BEFORE we get in line to check out? How about you and I looking at the cashier’s name tag and greeting them by name (maybe that’s why they wear them)? How about you and I treating servers everywhere with dignity?

God says, “Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. (Philippians 2:3-4)

The only way we can live out these words of God is if we are secure in who we are. When we know that we are valuable because we are created in God’s image, then we can add value to others. We can shut off our cell phones and serve the person who is supposed to be serving us.

Ooops, gotta go, my cell phone is ringing.