Yesterday as Maggie and I were walking out of the grocery store our paper bag broke and all the groceries rolled through the parking lot. It was only a small bag with a few items in it, one of which broke, but it certainly made what was meant to be a quick trip, not so quick. A helpful lady, who was on on her cell phone the whole time, graciously helped me gather my things and encouraged me to go back in to the store to replace what had broken.
While she was on the phone she kept telling whomever she was talking to that she was ‘helping a lady [that would be me] multi-task,’ which was funny because she never hung up the phone. I was so grateful for her help.
Later in the day, in yet another grocery store parking lot, an old man, who kind of looked like Santa, came up to me while I was unloading our cart. He instructed me to finish up and to just grab Maggie and he’d walk our cart back for us. [He also commented that Maggie has such ‘bright eyes,’ which is true, but hearing a guy that looks like Santa say it makes me believe it a million times over!} Again, so simple of a task to walk that cart back, but one that I was extremely grateful for.
As I loaded Maggie into her car seat and was talking to her, because we have an ongoing dialogue about or lives, I wondered aloud if people were just doing simple acts of kindness or if Maggie and I looked like the mess that I sometimes feel we are. I determined that people either remember or know what it is like to tote around a baby, they’re super nice people to begin with, OR Maggie and I are a mess and need all the help we can get.
Of all those options, I’m going to choose to believe that we ran into some friendly people that have been down this road before. It truly is the little things that matter sometimes.
You know?
P.S. The accompanying photo has nothing to do with today’s post. I just like it. So there.