It was a rather quiet day, or so I thought, until I entered the grocery store which was crawling with people. I made my way around the store collecting the many things I often take for granted , fresh produce, freshly baked bread, packaged meat , boxed crackers, eggs, milk.. and the list goes on. As i finished up and made myself through the maze of aisles and fellow cart pushers I arrived , safely, to the check out line. Today I qualified for the "express checkout " you know the '8 items only ' line . WHAT A TREAT! or so I told myself. As I approached the elderly cashier she mumbled something I couldn't quite make out. I ignored it and said ,
"hello, pretty busy in hear today eh?" she replied with an array of complaints and many mumbles and groans and some choice words that I probably wouldn't have liked had my children been there :) Surprised at her response I was rather stunned and didn't exactly know how to react. I was quiet the rest of the time, which if you know me is rather unusual . I made sure to tell her to enjoy the rest of her day and off i went exhausted from the awkward conversation.
A few days later I returned to the grocery store, gathered my things and made my way up to the very quiet check out. There were quite a few lines open and as i made my way to the first available one on the map I noticed the cashier was the same elderly woman I had had a few days before. I immediately came to a screeching halt , almost literally with some of the carts provided at the store ! I turned to find another cashier that would be a little more uplifting in spirit and a little more thankfulness to just be alive.
Than something unexpected happened, I felt almost a hand on my cart and shoulder directing me back to her direction. Something telling me,
" Go take heart, be hospitable, and loving , treat as you wish to be treated"
I couldn't refuse! So I took a deep breath and was on my way to the torture zone, i mean the check out.
I was sure to show loving kindness and take interest in her and how her day was TRULY treating her.
Since then I continue to look for her every time I am in the store, I make it a point to go to her check out even if it is the longest line. Although over a short period of time I could never seem to catch her on the shift she was working, which i thought was rather odd but I didn't think too much of it, not enough to ask about her. Then finally we were able to cross paths just the other day.
I approached her with a smile on my face and this time was excited to be in her presence. I had noticed she had looked different , she had gotten a hair cut ! This is how the conversation went:
"Your hair looks very nice , you got it cut, and you look better than ever "
"oh you must not have seen me in a little while" she blushed.
"no you are right, i have been wondering where you have been, thought you may have quit on me "
"no no i didn't quit, i like my hair too, i had to do something to cover up my bald spots. "
"Bald spots? Well you can't even notice them , I don't even think you have a single one "
"Well I'm in chemo right, so it's starting to fall out and not look so nice. "
I was shocked..I felt like someone had hit me in the gut with a baseball bat! Here I was at a check out with a lady I had been so thoughtless of until God reached down straightened my perspective and threw me into an uncomfortable situation, and I am so thankful he did. Before I left I was sure to tell her that my family and I would keep her in our prayers and for the first time she stopped what she was doing , looked up to my face, and replied with a smile ,
"thank you, I am going to need it."
Someday you may need a kind stranger friend, so please be that friend to someone else. It is so important and so very much appreciated not only by the person but by God as well for he commands us to be kind unto the broken hearted and you just never know who's heart is broken . This is not a wow look at me i'm so good blog, this is a look at how arrogant my thoughts had been, how my perspective had wondered and become careless and how i learned a very important lesson that i am hoping another can learn from. This is not hypocrocy , there is a strong difference betweeen hypocrocy and warning to others of self failures.
