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I hate it when people at the grocery store make me cry.

Also, those who proclaim our modern day society is deeply divided by race and gender issues aren’t paying attention.

I saw an encounter this morning that crosses culture boundaries and sheds light on the Hope that awaits at the bottom of our social Pandora’s box.

In front of me at the checkout line was a very old man in a mobility scooter. He had the basket on it in front of him filled pretty high. The family in front of him had a fair number of items. I settled in and prepared to wait. I had ice cream and frozen pizza silently thawing out in my cart but sometimes getting worked up over small stuff isn’t worth the effort.

As I waited, I noticed the head of the family two spots ahead of me. She looked angry as did her daughter. Meh. Who knows why.

The gent in front of me looked around him a little shakily. I followed his gaze and saw a magazine with Betty White on it and the congratulations on her 100th birthday. I immediately thought of the meme showing her being sad because she could no longer play with Legos as they are rated ages 3 to 99. That was funny. I wondered what he thought of Betty White, if he thought of her at all.

The family had finished putting things on the belt and were getting ready to pay. The daughter noticed the old man’s basket hadn’t been unloaded on the belt, as he couldn’t reach the items in the cart. She asked him if she could unload his cart for him onto the belt. He said, “no, the cashier can do it”. She gently insisted and he said ok.

The momma saw this happening and waved her daughter over to start the payment process. “No, hun, you go on. I got this.”

It was at this point I started to tear up. Public crowds are my kryptonite. My social anxiety makeup is such that too much exposure to people in crowds overwhelms me. I was already saturated with others’ emotions and stories and this tipped the cup for me.

I kept as best a straight face as I could by mama looked over at me. I barely could make a smile as our eyes met and I wiped my eyes. This unexpected kindness there me for a loop. She nodded and smiled to the gent and made small talk as she went about her business of helping him. He had some packages of steak. I know this because the lady asked him how he like it prepared. She no longer looked angry as she helped him.

The cashier was ringing up his items as this went on, and then she was done.

The old man carefully started to extract himself out of the scooter to pull out his wallet with his shaky hands. Before he could finish, the cashier stopped him.

“Sir,” said the cashier, “your groceries are paid for.”

He was confused.

“The lady in front of you paid for your groceries.” She smiled at him.

“But,” he asked, “why did she do that?”

“I dunno,” replied the cashier, “maybe she wanted to to have a merry Christmas and a happy new year.”

He completed the event of standing up and said, “No, I gotta pay it. I have to pay her back somehow.”

The lady who’d helped the man saw his quiet stubbornness, as she and the family had stayed back to make sure all was well with the transaction. She stepped up to rescue the cashier.

“No, hun,” she said, just like before, “you go on. I got this. Where are you parked? We’ll get those groceries in your car.” And off they went.

These stories are everywhere. We just need eyes to see them and ears to hear them.

And sometimes, hearts to live them.

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Today’s Just Be Thought

If someone is changing his or her life choices for the better, and to align with your positive goals and vision, that person isn’t sacrificing anything.

Sacrifice done under the idea of coercion leads to resentment, which left unattended, turns to bitterness and eventually derision and scorn.

If someone is moving in a better direction by dropping bad habits or altering his or her lifestyle to prepare to head in a more fulfilling life, the change isn’t sacrifice.

The change may be painful and scary and inconvenient, but it is not a sacrifice

Learning to walk, learning to run, learning to ride a bike, learning to let go of the symbolic millstones that threaten to drown us as we learn to swim in the current of life are never sacrifices. They are part of a satisfying life.

PicsArt AI, “Planet shining in the sky above the stormy sea”

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If you can observe it, you can measure it.

If you can measure it, you can predict it.

If you can predict it, you can control it.

If you can control it, you can fix it.

Well, most of the time.

PicsArt AI, “Charts and graphs”

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Today’s Just Be Thought is about gratitude. Here are a couple of quotes from those more wise than me:

“I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness – it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.” – Brene Brown

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.” – Meister Eckhart

PicsArt AI, “Gratitude”

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Today I saw the most unusual behavior. Well, it seemed unusual until I saw the story all the way through to the end.

I was sitting in the parking lot of a local fast food place. I don’t like to drive and eat, as I prefer to concentrate on one or the other.

I’m old-fashioned that way.

From the doorway of the restaurant came three people: a woman carrying a toddler, and a man.

The man came out of the door after the other two as they walked past some vehicles to get to their auto. As the man passed a pickup truck, he casually placed his empty drink cup on the bed cover of the truck, and quickly scurried to catch up with his partner. She didn’t notice him leaving his trash on another person’s vehicle.

He did notice me noticing this as our eyes met. He didn’t react but quickly started seating the toddler into the car seat while his partner fiddled with things in the front of the car.

“Now,” I thought to myself, “what am I to do about this? Obviously the owner of the truck will wonder what happened here when he or she comes to see someone else’s trash poised prettily on the back of their vehicle. Or maybe the cup won’t be noticed and will fall off and litter the place.”

I don’t want to get involved in drama but also don’t want to just let something like this go.

Fortunately patience came to the rescue. As I waited and thought, the solution revealed itself.

After the man finished buckling up the toddler, he walked over to the driver’s side of the vehicle where his partner was waiting.

That’s when he kissed her goodbye, then walked over to his truck that he’d set his unfinished drink onto.

He took a sip from the cup I assumed was empty, got in his truck, and drove away.

Seeing is not always believing.

PicsArt AI, “Man with question mark over his head”