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Inner Peace Be Upon You
# 0912 Peace and Blessings Every Day
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10:59 PM
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It was 10:55 on a Sunday night and rather quiet as I waited for
my shift behind a cash register at Wal-Mart to be over at 11:00.
I was merely patiently waiting for the next five minutes to go
away. Then came the exchange that I will remember for quite
awhile.
A woman showed up at my register with a cart full of things.
I scanned and processed her order and she paid for it. All seemed
routine enough. Then she looked at me...
"I need to tell you something".
"Yes, ma'am. How can I help you?"
"I don't know if you remember me. I came through your line a
couple of days ago. I was quite snippy and grouchy with you. You
had done nothing wrong and didn't deserve that. You see, I had
found out earlier that night that my sister-in-law had passed
away, and I wasn't in a good mood. I just want to apologize for
the way I acted."
I honestly did not remember the supposed incident from a couple of
days prior. Since dealing with at least one or two grouchy people
per day in this job seems to be the norm, I had become better at
just blowing things off. For a moment, I was taken aback. Mine is
a job where my customers take it for granted when things go as
they are supposed to. Generally, no one has any kind of feedback
unless it is to complain about something. I learned to understand
that no feedback at all meant I was doing something right.
She continued, "You just kind of stood there and took my wrath,
and remained patient and friendly. I want to thank you for that".
By now my eyes were welling up. How humbling it felt that in this
woman's time of grief, she was taking time to think of the Wal-
Mart cashier whom she felt she had offended. I said something
about that we try to help in any way we can, that I accepted her
apology and appreciated her kind words. Then I offered a
handshake, which she accepted, and I told her I was sorry for her
loss.
With that, she was on her way. I looked at my watch.....10:59. It
was time to call it a night. I left my register, clocked out for
the day and wept to myself as I walked to my car. I realized that
this woman had reminded me of some life lessons that I hope stay
with me for awhile.
I was reminded of the fact that when people act grouchy toward me,
it usually isn't because of anything I did. More often, their
actions are because of something going on with them that have
little or nothing to do with me. I was reminded that when people
act in such ways, those actions are not necessarily indicative of
their character or worth as a person. This woman chose to offset
her earlier actions (and then some) with a clearly heartfelt
apology and kind words.
I was reminded -- perhaps most importantly of all -- that in all
my actions with people, to the best of my ability, just how
important the virtues of kindness, patience and understanding can
be; that the people who seem at the time to deserve it the least
often are the ones who need it the most. You just never know what
difficulties life has thrown at them, or what demons they are
battling or have battled. Jackie Robinson once said that "A life
is unimportant except in the impact is has on other lives," and
this encounter showed me that the opportunity to offer a positive
impact is always there.
Even at a cash register, in a quiet store at 11 o'clock on a
Sunday night.
Inner Peace Be Upon You.
Thank you for inviting Inner Peace Be Upon You into your mailbox.
Change a life, give a friend Peace and Blessings.
See you tomorrow.
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