Almost every day on my drive home from work I drive by a cutie old lady who is walking a basset hound that I can only assume is older than the lady herself!I didn't see them at all last week...or at all earlier this week...and I was starting to actually get really nervous that one or the other...or both...had died!
I saw them yesterday...and I can neither confirm or deny that I may of started crying a little...
This little lady and her basset hound got me thinking about all of these people in our lives that we see on a regular basis that we have really no actual relationship with whatsoever.
I wonder if people who 'see' me all the time start to get a little worried if I 'go missing' for a while.
Like...do the people at the McDonalds drive through on the corner of I-10 and 7th st. start to wonder if I'm alright when I've gone more than 2 or 3 days inbetween visits. Or...the girl that dresses up as Lady Liberty and walks outside the tax office on Mill and the 60...does she wonder if everything's ok when she doesn't see my orange Ford Escape coming down the road around 5:00 every day? Or maybe the guy who is always taking his offices mail to the mail box at the same time I am every day...does he think I've been fired (or maybe quit) if I haven't been there for a while?
Probably not..........
But...that brings me to another thought: the influence and effect we can have on people we only meet once or twice. I can think of quite a few instances where I came across someone only once...and I can still remember how they acted or what they did and how that influenced me.
Like the other day I left the office to get lunch at Panda Express and I grabbed by debit card and left and I got through the drive through and went to pay and realized that I had grabbed my credit card (which doesn't work anymore) and I had no way to pay! I looked around my car...I don't know why though...I guess hoping a miraculous $5 bill would appear...but it didnt and so I turned to the guy and said "I'm so sorry...I don't have anything else" and took my card back and was just going to drive away and he says "Oh...don't worry...you can just have it! We're just going to throw it away anyway" and I said I couldn't do that and I felt really bad, but he insisted and so I took it, thanked him, drove off (and probably cried then too!).
Another time I was in the line at the post office...I think it was mid July or August last year...I guess I just remember that it was REALLY REALLY hot and the line was long and people were grumpy and short to the workers (and I'm sure the workers weren't thrilled either) and it didn't seem like a very posative situation. For some reason that I cannot remember now, the lady next to me struck up a conversation......OH I REMEMBER NOW...Sarah Harward called me and talked to her for a minute, but then asked if I could call her back in a few minutes. The lady next to me says "You must be pretty optomistic thinking you're only going to be a few minutes" and from there we just started talking about who knows what...gardening I think...and she made what could of been a miserable visit to the post office something rather enjoyable.
I know neither of those are really great examples...but those people could of easily turned those situations into something completely different. The Panda Express guy could of (and had a right to) be really upset and said rude things...or the lady at the post office could of been crochety and said some rude thing about me being on my phone in a public place or just completely ignored me in the first place, which is sort of the 'socially acceptable' thing to do when you're in a public setting now (elevators, lines, city transportation) ...
In closing (since this is turning out to be longer than any formal talk I've had to give) I'd like to share a quote with you that I have framed on my desk at home:
"I shall pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again."
9 comments:
What a great blog...it was worth the wait! Thanks!
Hey there! Thanks for the reminder. It actually got me thinking about people that I know (namely you) that I live so close to and never see. I was actually thinking about this before I read your blog...but now I know that I need to make more of an effort. We should really plan a time to hang out. Or maybe we can even do a temple session together. Let me know what you think!
I agree, I never really think about it. But I did notice that the lady at the clinic I weigh in at noticed when I stopped coming in to weigh.
Katy, this is just what I needed (and not just becasue I was mentioned, which made me feel very special!!). It's so true. It isn't really any harder and it's more fun to be happy and nice. You never know who you might be helping. It's funny how people are kind of worried what someone will think of them if they're 'overly nice' or too friendly, but it's acceptable and normal to be a bit rude and stand-off-ish. I mean, what will people think of you if you're nice to them. They'll think 'Wow! I like her! She's so nice!' Heaven forbid! Anyway, thanks for giving me something to think about and work on!!
Ok so similar situation, different outcome. We took the kids to McDonald's Monday night, and when Casey reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet, he realized he didn't have it. He ran out to the car only to discover it wasn't there either. He apologized to the guy, looked at me and said "Do you want to wait here while I drive home to get it?" I said sure (the whole time the two slackers behind the counter are giving us nasty looks and rolling their eyes). So the kids and I wait while Casey runs home and the entire time I have to endure the meanest looks from the employees. I wanted to stand up and yell "FOR HEAVENS SAKES, IT WAS AND ACCIDENT. I DIDN'T PURPOSELY TRY TO RUIN YOUR NIGHT!" Then when the kids asked to trade in their toys (thats really the ONLY reason we went there anyway), you would have though they were asked to walk on nails (they made them keep the dragon they got in their meals). Needless to say, i'm not pleased with Mickey d's.
I know i already commented on this but I don't see it here so I'll comment again.
This blog made me think of Mr. Moe and how he used to come into the fudge factory all the time and now he's most likely dead. And I wonder what happened to that bicyclist from Hamilton who would always come in and get 1/4lb of chocolate walnut and 2 chocolate mint pretzels and have them put in a 1/2lb box so that the pretzels didn't melt in his handy bicyclist shirt pocket. I haven't seen him in YEARS.
I thought of Mr. Moe when I read this too. I had forgotten about the bicyclist...I wonder what happened.
true true...
can I tell you that I love the crafting blogs on your sidebar. I've gotten so many great ideas and made so many fun things.
Wow, Katy! This is very insightful. I love how you seem to be carrying peacefulness and love around and then finding it in others. I love reading your thoughts. How beautiful.
Post a Comment