“Mrs. Hankins. Mrs. Hankins,” squealed Eleanor Bainbright. “Johnny Kale is cutting in line again.”

Mrs. Hankins patiently moved to the front of the line where Johnny was being pushed by Eleanor. Yes, it was just another conflict in the long line of conflicts that arose out of the long line of fourth-graders waiting to enter the cafeteria for another meal of Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, hot roll and milk.

“Do we have a problem here?” Mrs. Hankins asked as if she didn’t know.

“Johnny Kale is cutting in line,” Eleanor whined. “I told him if he didn’t move I was going to sock him in the nose.”

“There’s no need for any blood shed, dear,” Mrs. Hankins stated calmly.

“He needs to move,” Eleanor continued to whine. “He stepped out of line and now expects me to let him back without any consequences.”

Eleanor Bainbright was such a pain in the butt. She was always so demanding of everyone. She made issues where there were none. She was always right. She made Judge Judy look like a wimp.

“Did you cut line, Johnny?” Mrs. Hankins asked.

“When we left the classroom, I was in front of Eleanor,” Johnny explained. “I remained in front of her right up to the entrance to the cafeteria. No ma’am, I didn’t cut line.”

“Yes you did,” Eleanor insisted.

“No I didn’t.”

“Yes you did!”

“That’s enough,” Mrs. Hankins interjected.

It was never enough for Eleanor Bainbright. Unfortunately, it’s never enough for many of us. Life is full of lines. Life is full of waiting. And watch out if someone gets in front of us and has the opportunity to move ahead.

You’d think by now that we would have adapted to a life of lines and waiting. But we haven’t. There doesn’t seem to be any time to take the time to learn to be patient. Of course I don’t want you to be too patient. Too much patience can equal laziness. Take for instance the guy who is able to sit around all day in his boxer shorts drinking beer and watching Jerry Springer while he waits for his Lotto numbers to come up.

It seems to be getting tougher and tougher to be patient in a society that is constantly in motion. People flip madly through “McCalls” and “National Geographic” in doctors’ offices not because they are fearful about filling their cavities, but because they have a million and one other things scheduled on the same day.

It’s so easy to laugh at impatient people. I’ve actually experienced drivers who honk their horns while waiting in the drive-thru line of a fast-food restaurant. What? Two minutes is too long to wait for a burger, large fries and a super-sized drink? Why don’t you honkers get out of your car and cook your own hamburger, deep fry your own fires and pour your own drink? After going to the store, purchasing the groceries, going back home and cooking your lunch, I can assure you you’ll use more than a 30-minute lunch break.

And how about those people who impatiently tap their foot at the fax machine? Two minutes too long to transfer a document from Charlottesville to San Francisco? Would you rather purchase a round-trip airline ticket to California, be forced to change planes here and there, get lost in Atlanta, have a layover in Chicago due to a sudden pilot strike, experience turbulence over the Rockies and finally land in California during an earth trimmer? Maybe those two minutes at the fax machine aren’t as bad as you thought.

But no where is the lack of patience demonstrated any better than on the highways and byways of this great country of ours. Every day on my way to and from work, I experience the impatient idiocy of my very common man.

Have you ever noticed how solid double lines down the center of the road seem to tell the driver behind you that it’s time to pass? Blind curves are another time impatient drivers enjoy tempting the hand of fate.

Have you ever been stopped to make a left hand turn and discover that the impatient fool behind you would rather break an axle going around you by way of the drainage ditch on the right than wait the four seconds it takes you to complete your left hand turn?

Have you ever had a freak behind you honk his horn at the exact moment the light turns green? I’m sorry; I’m in a car, not the Concorde. It takes at least two seconds for my vehicle to react when I press the peddle to the metal.

Actually, the only time these impatient drivers are not a menace on the road is when they are in the drive-thru honking their horn at the car in front of them while waiting for a double-decker cheese burger, large fries, and a Coke.

Maybe Johnny Kale did cut in line that day back in the fourth grade, but I really doubt Todd Winston and Ann Tillman and Charlie Bristol and Raymond Dodd and Deke Tyson and Caroline Peters and Sonny Blake and Sue Reynolds did, too. Eleanor said they did. So they must have, right? Come to find out, Eleanor Bainbright chose a new victim every day. She’d do anything to get ahead. In this case, she’d fuss and fuss until another classmate got sent to the back of the line and she moved up another spot. The Devil didn’t wear Prada, she wore Buster Browns.

I feel that some people like Eleanor never learn the fine art of being patient. It all starts in the lunch line outside the cafeteria and continues into adulthood.

Is it really that important to be at the front of the line? Learn to be patient. Stop honking in the drive-thru and stop tapping your foot at fax machines. And whatever you do, stop driving so daggone fast. It’s dangerous. Somebody always gets hurt and it’s usually not the guilty party.

Come on. Hurry up and slow down.