Every Saturday night I find myself at Wal-Mart. Last night was no different. Hang on...yes it was. It was the night before Mother's Day. I don't know if your Wal-Mart stores are like ours, but you never, NEVER got to Wal-Mart the night before a holiday. It is C-R-A-Z-Y. CRAZY.
People were everywhere. Things were everywhere. There were no carts in the stall!! I took that as an omen and decided I would get in and get out as fast as possible. But first, I needed a cart. So did the older woman looking for one. I ventured outside and found two right by each other. I grabbed both of them. One for me, one for the woman. I came back in and asked if she was still in need of a cart. Her son came in after me and had one, so I left it in the empty stall. A man came in and grabbed. I felt good inside. I did my good deed for the day.
I had a short list. I headed to get milk first. As I came down the major isle, I noticed boxes of Suddenly Salad all over the floor. Someone had knocked them down and left them. In my mind I was thinking how rude. You should always pick up after yourself. My mother taught me that. As I left the mess behind, a voice came in my head saying, "What would your mother do?" I answered it with, "She would pick it up." My mom taught me to be helpful.
I turned around and went straight for the boxes. I picked all of them up. There were around twelve scattered, along with the boxes that housed them. I felt weird because people were staring at me. Haven't they ever seen someone picking up a mess before?
I was finished and headed to get my milk. I put three gallons in my cart (we drink lots of milk). I now turned to go get some baby oatmeal cereal for Britten. I walked past an isle and thought I heard someone quietly ask, "Can you help me find my dad?" I turned around and there stood a little boy, with a toy in hand, looking scared. I asked him, "Are you lost?" He nodded his head and said, "I can't find my dad."
"Let's go find him," I said. I turned around and saw a gentleman hiding behind some clothes. I figured this little boy had wandered and the dad was following him to see what he would do (been there done that). I laughed a little and asked the boy, "Is your dad wearing a yellow shirt?" He nodded and his dad came out. "You have to stay with dad, buddy." My heart was happy that this boy wasn't really lost. A week ago Becca wandered from me, but I didn't see where she had gone. My heart was racing! I'm glad I helped that little boy, even though he was never in real danger. After all, my mom taught me to have compassion.
I finished picking up the items on my list. It took me longer than I thought it would. There were so many people! I'd get stuck behind the person who would park their cart on one side of the isle while checking out the items on the other side. I waited. I'd get stuck behind the family groups who would take up the whole isle. Usually I would be a little annoyed, but this time was different. I started the shopping trip doing what my mom taught me to do, so I kept it up. I was polite and waited. My mom taught me to be patient.
I made it to the checkouts. The lines were long- they always are the night before a holiday. I was waiting patient and realized the line up ahead only had one person in it. Normally, I would walk right on up, but this time was different. I asked the man in front of me if he planned on going into that line. He said no. So I went for it! My mom taught me to be thoughtful.
Outside I loaded up my car with my few groceries. I jumped in and pulled out of my parking space. As I entered the cross walk, a few people walked right out of the store and into the cross walk (why do they always do that?). Instead of getting mad and giving them the 'eye of death' look, I smiled and waved them on through. My mom taught me to be considerate.
I made it out of the parking lot, full of thanks for my great mother. I contemplated the thought that if everyone would just live their lives by their mother's teachings, what a better world this would be. Thank heaven for mothers.
