And then right below that it read, "Including you." - Glennon
It has been an amazing journey to see how much forgiveness and kindness we need to give others. And to ourselves. How we should show kindness and patience to others. You read that all the time, right? You hear that all the time, from the time you are a small child. Be kind. Golden rule, right? Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It's one thing to say it and think you believe it, but it's another to see that it really does hold truth.
I am not a mean person by nature. I empathize easily. And I'm not snooty, but I am shy. Believe it or not. I am shy. And I care way too much about what people think about me. So in social settings, usually I will choose to be quiet or avoid interaction with strangers because I don't want to be judged by them. And I think "Why would they want to talk to me?" So sometimes my shyness is mistaken for snootiness. Also, there are times I have nothing to say. And I am not really into lots of superfluous chatter. If I have something to talk about, I'm a talker. If not, I'm quiet. I would be the worst Home Shopping Network host ever. There would just be so much I could say about a pillow case before I was DONE.
But one of my many faults is that of impatience. I hate slow drivers, idiot drivers, slow walkers, slow minds, people who don't get math or Microsoft Word, and people who don't know produce. That's right. Produce. People who can't detinguish between a radish and an onion. Or a garlic bulb and a mushroom. Or parsley and cilantro. Drives me insane. It's wrong. I should not get frustrated to the point of being impatient and mean because someone doesn't know what a shallot is. This book has me thinking now about others in a way I haven't before. I guess it's making me a little less selfish, and I'm so appreciative.
Here's my story: I'm at Walmart. I have lots of things in my cart. Produce. The lady starts ringing it up. She doesn't know what Italian flat leaf parsley is. So I tell her. She spends what seems like 5 minutes looking for it on her chart of produce given to her by the Walmart corporation. It's alphabetized, but she still can't find it. I feel myself getting frustrated. But as I'm standing there watching this nervous young lady look through the pictures on her chart, I find myself thinking. "This is my opportunity to tell me selfish, impatient self to not start huffing and be kind." So I think of something to say that is kind and not impatient. It's hard. But I ask her, "May I see it? Maybe I can find it." I do. But I was worried that came across not as kind as I'd hoped because the girl was still nervous. Her shoulders were tensed up and she looked frazzled. I mean, I WAS feeling impatient. I was just trying to beat it down and be nice despite my feeling. No point scored for me on that play.
Next item.. Garlic bulbs. She nervously handles the bag and asks, "Are these mushrooms?" Now, my impatient self wanted to say, "You work here. You ring this stuff up all the time. Do hillbillies here not buy garlic bulbs?!" If I'm being honest, that's what my insides were saying. But here again, I thought with great purpose, BE KIND. I say, "No. Those are garlic bulbs." She was so embarrassed. I could see it in her face and her body language. This had gone far enough. I smile and say, "You're gonna be an expert on all this produce by working here, huh? You're learning all kinds of yummy veggies. There are a lot of weird ones. You ever had an artichoke? That's what those are in the next bag. Yum."
She looks up at a me and looked a little shocked that I had engaged her in a sort of friendly conversation in the midst of her frazzled state. She stops, smiles, lets all the tension out of her body, and leans forward a little. She says, "Yeah, I guess. This is just my second week. I feel like I don't know anything." I laugh and say, "Well, you'll be impressing your friends in no time knowing all these fancy names. Just be patient." Irony there, n'est-ce pas? She continues ringing me up with a smile. She looks at me as I am about to leave and says, "Thank you for your patience with me."
Patience. Wow. I was patient?! I was kind. And I made what was an embarrassing situation for her not so embarrassing. It's true. I have no idea what that lady was going through in her life. I have no idea if her only battle that morning was with the names of that produce or if there were other more serious battles she was fighing in her personal life. I suspect the produce was the least of them. But I'm not going to lie. I was beaming as I walked out of that Walmart. I felt as if I had been a blessing. And it wasn't even a big deal what I did. Kindness shouldn't be a big deal. But it was rewarding enough to make me want to keep being kind in those situations where I'd normally be impatient and potentially rude. People are fragile. And we need compassion. I am going to continue to work on killing this awful impatience and let God's light and love shine through me. I'm actually really excited about it. Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow. I don't know what people are going through. But I can bet they are going through something. And I want them to feel as if they have someone on their side.
Even if it's just in a battle with produce.
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