Today I’m grateful for my first-world problem.

11.3.2024

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I’m a grocery pick-up girl. I was actually doing grocery pick-up way before the pandemic made it popular. You could say I’m an OG. I will occasionally go into a grocery store to shop, but more often than not I make my list online, let someone else do the shopping, and I pick up my order at my scheduled time. I will frequently order groceries on Sundays and pick them up on my way home from church Sunday night.

That was tonight’s plan. I had a really big order today and I scheduled my pick-up window for 6-7 p.m. Church typically ends about 6 and I chose a grocery store location on my route home. I’d have a stocked fridge and pantry for the coming week. Perfect.

But, when I pulled out my phone after church I had a text message saying that my order was delayed and they’d contact me when it was ready. I’ll be honest, I was immediately annoyed.

I made 2 other stops after church. Neither were urgent or planned, but I was buying time in hopes that my groceries would be ready soon. They were not. I ended up going home, knowing that I’d have to make another trip out. Ugh!

I finally got a text about 7:45 that my order was ready for pickup. I indicated in my app that I was on my way and headed back out. The grocery store I was headed to is about 15 minutes away from my house, and I was feeling pretty put-out. I mean, who wants to leave the house at 7:45 on a Sunday night? Not this girl.

About half-way to the store, it occurred to me that this HUGE INCONVENIENCE of mine was most certainly a first-world problem and when I thought about it from that perspective, it was almost laughable how completely spoiled I was by the whole scenario. Here I was, driving my safe, reliable car, which I can afford to drive, maintain and put gas into, to pick up my groceries. These are groceries, mind you, that I can easily pay for, will provide me nourishment, and that someone else spent their time going aisle to aisle gathering for me. I received clear communication about the delay on my trusty iPhone … the same iPhone that was now playing my favorite music while I jammed out with my windows down and my sunroof open enjoying the night’s cool temps. And in less than half an hour I’d be back home with a fully stocked fridge and pantry ready for the week ahead. Oh, poor me.

And that’s pretty much how it played out, except for the added blessing of an employee who went out of his way to locate my order and bring it out to my car, even after his shift had ended.

So as I sit and type this, sipping on a fresh Vitamin Water, it occurs to me that most days I totally take for granted the fact that I can get pretty much any grocery item I want, whenever I want it. I can order food from a website and swing by a store of my choosing at a time I pick and have someone load it in my car.

I know it’s weird to be thankful for an inconvenience, but I honestly am grateful for tonight’s delay and the extra trip I had to make. I’m thankful for the light bulb moment when it dawned on me how “first worldly” this problem really was, and I’m extremely grateful for my subsequent shift in perspective – reminding me to recognize and appreciate the privileges that occur as ordinary to me, but others would give anything to have. I pray that I’m not so quick to forget this lesson the next time I’m feeling put-out or inconvenienced by a first-world problem.