Walk A Mile in THEIR shoes

In my last post, I said that unannounced visits were something of the past that needs to be brought back.   I believe the same of the handwritten letter.  And not just because the post office is struggling!  Long before cell phones became affordable and there were nationwide plans, we had to be careful of how long we talked on long distance calls.  So growing up, we wrote a lot of letters to people.  I LOVED getting letters and writing them too.  And I'm sure if I could find some of those letters I wrote, they'd be quite entertaining to read!  Don't get me wrong, I think technology is great.  Information travels faster and you can stay in touch more often and it is more affordable.  But sometimes, it is nice to get something in the mail other than just a boring bill or piece of junk mail.  So last week's acts of kindness were what I'd call... letters of love.  I clipped magazine articles, wrote cards and even made a little craft for some people in my life that I thought could use a little dose of love :) 

On Saturday I was at a grocery store when this cute little boy was carrying his mom's groceries asked his mom for a bouncy ball.  His mom said no (of course).  So I quickly grabbed a quarter (which is actually strange for me to have... I hoard them for car washes!) and leaned down to give it to him and his face just lit up.  I walked out to the car and loaded my groceries and was on the way out when he came out of the store bouncing like that bouncy ball would have with the biggest smile on his face... which made my day!  I like these acts of kindness.................. 

Unless the act of kindness also irritates me..... like today.

Today, I was at the grocery store again... yes, I do go there a lot!!!! Anyway, I saw one of my biggest pet peeves... a lady leaving her cart in the parking space next to her car when the cart alley was just a few steps away.  Maybe I'm just OCD, but I see this all the time around here and it bothers the everliving stuffing out of me.  WALK IT TO THE DESIGNATED SPOT.  Think about those poor cart collectors who are making minimum wage to search the parking lot to find where you've hidden a cart.  Not to mention the future customers trying to find a parking space only to find that the first ten they think they've found are taken up by carts. That's a lot of the problem with this world -- people don't want to walk a mile in anyone's shoes but their own. And then, if they can get by with half a mile, they will. 

I wish I had taken my confidence pill today because I would've walked right up behind her, grabbed the cart and walked it to it's designated destination.   But I waited until she left.   Coach is teaching me to be more outspoken when I see something that bothers me... I'm learning.... little by little.  Or maybe cart by cart.....