December 7

This isn't really about toothpaste. 

I was standing in the oral care aisle at Walmart this morning mulling the options and scanning my numerous rebate apps for the best deal when a middle-aged African American man walked by with a cart. A moment later he reversed course and entered my aisle. He smiled and thanked me for being there because if he hadn't seen me, he would've forgotten that he needed Listerine. He wanted the BIG bottle so I helped him find it. And then he grinned, wished me a happy holiday, and went along his way. That's tale number one.

The second story begins a few minutes later as I traversed the women's clothing section. I passed a woman who was wearing a lovely woven wrap and paused to admire the piece. She smiled and thanked me and told me exactly where she'd gotten it. I thanked her and then we parted ways with a cheery 'happy holidays.'

Our third and final tale comes from a few minutes after tale number two. I was in the men's clothing section perusing the racks for a pair of 28-30 (aka Small) pants for Brady when I noticed a man talking to himself as he scanned a shelf of undershirts. He bemoaned the lack of extra-large product, and I suggested he check every peg just in case. And then we both chuckled over the notion that someone would hide a pack of extra large white t-shirts. Then I found the pants I wanted and wished him a happy holiday. He paused, smiled, and replied with a healthy measure of enthusiasm, 'yeah, happy holidays to you too!'

By now you're probably wondering why I'm sharing these vignettes because I get it: random. So here's why: I'm not the world's most patient person. I rarely say what I'm thinking, but I'm definitely thinking SOMEthing more often than not, especially when someone does something that I seem to be stupid or ill-advised. And I don't think I'm alone in that. But today, these three run-of-the-mill interactions with three people I didn't know reminded me that underneath the challenges of daily life, most people want to be and do good; we want to have pleasant interactions with strangers and to share the joy of the season in simple, cost-free ways. So for that realization brought to life in an unlikely place, I'm grateful.