Respect
This one comes from a trip to the grocery store.
As I was checking my purchases out through the U-Scan, the woman in charge of the area said,”Did you stop lifting weights?”
The guy at the next scanner and I turned around at the same time.
She was looking at him.
He said, ” Yeah, a long time ago. Do I know you?”
“I remember when you used to work here.”
“That was 13 years ago.”
“I never forget a face, but I have a hard time remembering names. Do you remember that blonde girl you had a crush on? She got married a few years ago.”
He stopped his scanning and turned to face this woman who knew so much about his life from his brief time working at this store. They fell into a conversation in which he got her caught up on what he had been up to since she had last seen him.
It was like watching a reunion of sorts.
There are people like this in all of our lives. They observe everything quietly. Not in an intrusive way. Casually.
We blow by them. Paying little, if any, attention to these folks.
In this case, I am sure it was because he was so young and it never occurred to him that the quiet older lady might have something to contribute to his life. Maybe her knowledge about working there. Maybe something else. He missed out back then but today he hopefully learned a valuable lesson.
Not every old person is a fountain of knowledge, but it is worth a brief conversation to find out one way or another.
Peace.
Bellbottom Blog 