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Name: Tori
Country: United States
State: Texas
Metro: Waco
Birthday: 3/23/1982
Gender: Female
Interests: movies, books, music, conversation, the mundane of life, the extraordinary of life, the things of life that can be characterized as both, Seattle, coffee, laughing, be laughed at, finding a level of profundity, writing, travel, politics, talking myself in circles, using correct grammar, seeing things in a new light . . .
Occupation: Student
Message: message me
AIM:  Tortita1
Member Since:
8/25/2004
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| Baseball season's started.
Just so you know.
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| Sometimes, between all the crazy customers and stupid questions, there are profound moments found in working retail.
Yesterday, I was stuck ringing out customers in the men's department to try and get the lines down. A sweet older woman, Ms. Faye, comes up with a convection oven to see if it was on sale. The sale didn't start until today, but I was able to take her over to the home department and ring her out on a different register to get her the sale price. The box wasn't heavy, but it was bulky, so I carried it to the home department for her. The whole time, we were making small talk and she was thanking me for my helpfulness. I offered to carry the box out to her car for her after she finished paying. She told me that she didn't want to make me walk that far, but I offered again and she let me help her. On our walk out to her car, she began telling me how her trunk was full, so I'd have to put the box in her backseat. "I'm a widow and I just try and stay out of people's way, so I do all my shopping once a month."
My heart broke a little bit for her.
We got out to her car and I put the box in; she offered me a tip which I refused. She thanked me again for my trouble, and I told her one more time that I was just glad I could help. She gave me a hug and got in her car. I turned to walk back into the store with the biggest smile on my face because of her kindness.
As I was walking back in, James 1: 27 started running through my head. "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to
look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself
from being polluted by the world." We oftened spiritualize this idea and take this verse away from meaning actual orphans and actual widows, but I think we do it a grave injustice if we don't allow for the literal mandate to have significance in our lives. I'm certainly not saying that my carrying a bulky box out to an elderly lady's car is some profound religious act, but I think it had significance for Ms. Faye.
At the end of the day, I think the most basic think that most of us hope for is to be noticed, to have someone acknowledge our existence and take a moment to genuinely care for us. I wanted to tell Ms. Faye that she didn't have to keep out of people's way at all, that she didn't have to feel like she was troubling people. Somehow, in taking a few minutes to help her out, she was encouraged. Carrying her package out was a sign of love.
People want to be known. People want to have their personal value and worth affirmed. Jesus modeled a life of ministry to marginalized and disenfranchised, to the people who had no names and no voice within society. I think our task of following that model is not nearly so difficult as it might seem. The place to start is simply this: take notice.
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| Ten pages. . .
With footnotes. . .
2 1/2 hours. . .
This is why I procrastinate.
Oh, the last week of class.
It will soon be over, friends. Take heart.
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| Check your calendars, folks: it's November 2.
They started playing Christmas music at work today.
Already.
Seriously.
'Tis the season. . .or something.
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