Oh, not all of you that were in WalMart tonight. Although, really, I should thank all of you since for the first time in living memory, I didn’t leave WalMart wanting to rip someone’s head off. There wasn’t a single child abuser, nor were there any kids running wild. There wasn’t a single person who ran into me then got snippy about me not watching where they were going. There wasn’t, in fact, one single, solitary turd monkey to be found tonight. So, thank you to everyone in WalMart tonight.
But I’d like to give special thanks to the guy in the pickup who let us turn in front of him. That was nice, dude, and it was something you didn’t have to do, but you did. That changed my whole attitude about having to go to WalMart. (And don’t anyone start about how I didn’t have to go to WalMart. You come live in Stepford and tell me where you shop, okay?) I felt like maybe not everyone who shops at WalMart is a total turd monkey. It set the tone, so to speak. So, thank you.
Now to you, dear, sweet lady in the facial cleansers aisle, I say thank you - you saved us a good bit of money by being willing to step outside of social boxes to tell me what you thought would work better on my kid’s skin. You took a chance that I was someone who could accept the fact that our color differences might mean that you’d know something about my multiiracial son that I didn’t know, namely, how to properly treat his acne. Whether your advice works or not, we’ve yet to discover, but the fact that you saw a mother in distress and wanted to help renews my faith in the fact that maybe, just maybe, the self-imposed segregation where we live might someday end.
Don’t think I’ve forgotten you, dear cashier, who spoke to us as though we were old friends, at the same time maintaining a nice pace with our checkout. For too many times to count, we’ve had a fast cashier or a nice cashier, but never both. Don’t get me wrong — you’re working a job that’s pretty craptastic, I know, and I don’t get angry about less-than-friendly or less-than-fast cashiering, but it was a nice change of pace.
Finally, thank you, Universe, for making my trip to WalMart to acquire red lipstick (and other stuff) so pleasant that I believe it must have been Your way of ordaining the purchase. I promise I’ll wear some tomorrow.
Tags: giving thanks · random acts of kindness · shopping · WalMartComments
