Patience! One Penny At A Time

I had had such a wonderful day of service (which merits another blog post), and I had promised to drive around the neighborhood to make sure that all was in order. Before doing so, I desperately needed to find a Lady's Room, and decided to make a quick stop in a grocery store.

While there, I remembered that I was out of coffee and, in an effort to escape the $4+ Starbucks run, I grabbed a bag of coffee. Since I only had one item, I looked for the self-checkout line with the fewest heads waiting.

Ah-Hah! There was a line with only one fellow making a purchase. I felt so lucky. He was attired in sweats and had a hat on. Alongside the checkout counter was a insulated store bag from which he took out a 2-liter soda bottle and proceeded to ring it up. I did not see the exact amount as I simply was not watching, but it was somewhere around $1.00. Then I noticed him paying for his purchase, one penny at a time.

Oh no! So much for moving through quickly! I looked at the other checkout aisles wondering if I would check out quicker by moving to one of these. But then I thought to myself, "What do I have awaiting me?" "Nothing!" So I watched as he meticulously put one penny at a time in the slot. It took forever! But it was such a gratifying experience for him! The countdown came to $.35 and he realized that he did not have enough money. I had found a dime on the floor upon entering the store which I proffered to him. He heartily accepted. I didn't want to strip him of his pleasure of putting the pennies in the slot, but he simply had no more, and I was unable to find any more in my purse. I did, however have a quarter which I gave him, but I am not sure that it was as satisfying to him as putting one penny in at a time.

The purchase was complete and the fellow thanked me over and over. He mentioned how he never, ever stole anything. He may have done so as a child, but not now. He could not have been more grateful and he repeatedly wished God's blessings upon me. I returned the wishes, but I am sure that I was far more blessed by this man than anything I could have done for him!

Facetious?

As I headed down the hangar to board the plane the other evening, a disabled woman was being guided from a wheelchair to her seat right ahead of me. The head airline hostess asked me and those behind me to wait a few minutes until she was seated. At that very moment, my suitcase handle slipped out of my hands and my suitcase hit the woman behind me. She shrieked. Not loudly, but she shrieked. I felt terrible about it and I turned around and asked her if she were OK. Her response indicated that I was ingnorant in even asking as such since if it hadn't hurt, she would not have shrieked. I offered to buy her a drink. Her response was strong, "Are you being facetious?" In my mind, I could not even comprehend how facetiousness had anything at all to do with offering someone a drink for having hurt her, accidentally no less. She continued on and on about how I was being facetious, and that this was quite bothersome to her. I quietly apologized, turned forward, and headed to my seat (fortunately, she was not seated right next to me).

It took me a long time to let this incident go. I simply could not understand how my efforts to be kind to her based on an accident that may have hurt her would lead to such negativity and accusations of my being facetious. Furthermore this situation was directly related to our efforts to patiently await this older woman finding her seat on the plane.

The lesson that I think I am learning here is that some people interpret situations completely differently than I might and that I need to be open to this possibility in all situations in life. I also know that I must let go of things that are out of my control. Some people thrive on controlling situations; I was just trying to be kind and apologize.