Last shall be first rules sometimes unclear

This photo of Olivia Newton-John was taken moments before she looked me directly in the eyes and sang to me during the taping of the "Midnight Special" in 1980. Read on to discover why the chance encounter was a minor miracle. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I I am competitive by nature. Every coach I ever played for growing up taught me to try my best to win. Never to an unethical degree, but the drive to succeed was instilled within me. Nice guys finish last kinda thing. That’s why the whole “Last shall be first” deal is sometimes a foreign notion to me. We all strive to be first. First place finishers get the trophies, the parades, and the commercial endorsements. But if we want to be viewed as considerate individuals, we are told we must put aside our me-first nature and look out for the other person, even if it’s a stranger. I’ll admit I haven’t been very good at this most of my life. I weave my truck in and out of traffic determined to break free of the jams as quickly as possible. I will let people in once in a while, but for the most part, it’s me against the world when it’s bumper to bumper. I am a self-proclaimed expert when it comes to bobbing and weaving my way on foot through pedestrian traffic at places such as Disney World, Carowinds, etc. I don’t knock over baby carriages or anything, but I’m tunnel-vision aggressive when it comes to getting from point A to B in congestion. (Maybe because I’m claustrophobic.) Recently I caught one of the luckiest breaks a guy can experience while standing last in a long line of customers at the CVS store. A new register opened and I was the closest customer to the smiling employee. My first instinct was to jump toward the counter, make my purchase, and jet-bolt out of there while everyone else watched with resentful envy. Aware of the last-shall-be-first theory, I fully believed I was deserving of the reward. But fortunately I remembered the young lady directly ahead of me in line and how long she had been standing there when I walked up. I motioned her forward and invited her to check out before me. Astonished, she accepted the invitation and thanked me profusely. At that point, the personal theologian within me became thoroughly confused. I was last in line- therefore, by theory, I deserved to be first. But when afforded the opportunity to accept my just deserts (pronounced “desserts”), I chose to be last again. So does that mean I forfeited my rights under the last-shall-be-first rules of reward and punishment? Do two “lasts” still produce a “first” or do they cancel each other out and become a neutral. Don’t know. But I do know that when I visited California in 1980, my cousin and I were last in line outside at the Midnight Special. But once we got inside, Wolfman Jack pointed to the stage two feet from where we sat in the back and informed the crowd that Olivia Newton-John would be performing at our end of the building. Lucky for us because the Village People appeared on the other end near the front. No offense, but Olivia was a much better prize. Maybe I used up all my last-shall-be-first good fortune on that night. Either way, I think the whole last-shall-be-first conversation is based on putting the needs of others ahead of your own. Some great day, all the selfless last placers will get all their trophies. And rightfully so.