Inconvenience…or Serendipity?

Yesterday, I got up early to pick up a prescription at Walgreens. I arrived to learn that they were out of the medication but would transfer the prescription to another local pharmacy. I chose Target, since I needed to do some shopping there.

I arrived at Target, did my shopping, and then stalled for an hour waiting for Target’s pharmacy to open. When it did, I was told that no, Walgreens did not transfer the prescription. In fact, they could not “transfer” it because the Target pharmacist had to personally call to receive the prescription. And the wait time would be at least an hour.

In the midst of this, Annemarie texted me, “Mom, where are you? I’m leaving soon!” So, I headed home to say goodbye.

An hour later, I drove back to Target to get what I’d left home four hours earlier to get, fuming the whole way about the inconvenience, the wasted time, the stupidity of it all.

But later in the day, as I helped Jonathon dress up as a Beatnik for the Junior/Senior 50’s bash (the James Dean look is hard to pull off with a beard!) I realized that from a slightly different perspective, the morning’s events were nothing short of fortuitous.

While waiting for Target to open, I spent time in Ross. That’s where I found a pair of inexpensive black pants, dress shoes (which Jonathon can also wear with his Oceanaires tuxedo!), and the one thing I was afraid I’d never find spur-of-the-moment: a black beret.

And because I returned to Target, I found the two finishing-touch items we were missing: a skin-tight black turtleneck and a funky scarf (both deeply discounted!)

Without the beret, the turtleneck, and the scarf…well, we wouldn’t have had a beatnik outfit!

How often do I complain about inconvenience…and miss the chance to celebrate serendipity? (Click to tweet this.)