To the Man at Aldi
Grocery shopping... I know there are many people who abhor grocery shopping. Me, personally? It is, by far, one of my absolute favorite things to do, even with my two small children in tow. There is something about roaming the aisles with my well made list and my calculator knowing that what I am doing is going to feed my family. Today I got to add to the joy I already get from grocery shopping by including one of my very best friends, my sister-in-love, Danielle, in the mix. We rarely get to spend time together so we were definitely looking forward to this outing. Off to Aldi we went.
Every day you can read stories all over social media about the various injustices that people encounter when they are out in public. Human beings have a bad habit of abusing each other and taking each other for granted in atrocious ways. I am never one to post those kinds of stories though. I sometimes feel like I walk around in a bubble of happiness because I am always treated kindly and with respect when I am out, especially with my girls. Today though... today was a different kind of day. So I'd like to leave here an open letter to the man we encountered at Aldi today.
Dear Sir,
When I sat down to write this letter I thought I had so much to say. Now, however, my brain is so full of jumble and I am still so bothered by our encounter that I am not sure where to start. Today I set out with my sister and my two small daughters to purchase groceries for our family. I enjoy taking my girls shopping and interacting with them throughout the store. We use it as a bonding time and also a learning time. We talk about colors, numbers, the alphabet. My 3-year-old loves to ask questions about the different fruits and vegetables she sees. But today, you made our excursion into an entirely different kind of learning experience for my children.
I truly would like to apologize that my sister's buggy was in the middle of the aisle as we talked about butter and decided what would work best for each of our families. We stopped in a split second when we saw the sale prices and did not notice where her buggy landed. A simple "excuse me" would have sufficed and she would have been more than happy to scoot out of your path. She most likely would have apologized for being in your way and smiled at you. Instead you decided that it was necessary to run, full speed, into her cart and knock her out of your way. My daughters saw this. My sister and I marveled at what had just occurred and decided not to linger on it.
We went about our business and turned the corner to the fresh meat aisle. I moved my buggy, with my girls in the front seat, so that it was almost touching the cooler, like I normally do, while we perused the ground beef and made a selection. I reached out for the package I wanted and suddenly a searing pain shot through my hand and stopped me in my tracks. I looked up to find that you, this same man who had banged into my sister, had now side swiped my own cart hard enough to push it the rest of the way into the cooler, and smashed my pinky between our buggies in the process. A million things passed through my brain all at once. I had to stay calm because my girls were watching me. So while I wanted to yell at you and scream in pain, I simply help my hand and tried not to cry. The pain made me instantly nauseated and I had to turn my back. You never offered help. You never muttered an apology. You stood there and watched me in pain. I noticed very quickly that there had been no reason for the "accident." Another young mom and her friend were all the way on the other side of the aisle and there was plenty of room for you to walk through. I had no words. I had no idea how to act or what to do. As you walked away with a smirk on your face I did say, loud enough that I know you heard me, that had it been my child's hand you hit, you most definitely would have broken something.
My daughters saw all of this. They saw the meanness in your face. They saw that you went out of your way to hurt someone; to hurt their mama. They saw a room full of people watch this happen and never offer even a kind word. Only their aunt, thank goodness she was with me, seemed to notice that anything was wrong with the situation. But I was able to teach my girls, especially my 3-year-old, from this. I was able to show them that it is possible to remain calm in a bad situation. I was able to teach them that harsh words aren't the answer and that grace can be shown to anyone. They got to see that it is ok to be upset and it is ok to be emotional when you've been hurt. And then my sister and I taught them the best lesson of all. We gathered at the middle of our two buggies, right there next to the ground beef and the chicken breasts, and we prayed. We prayed for protection around us for the rest of our day. We prayed for the people in the stores we would visit, and we prayed for the atmosphere wherever we would set foot for the rest of the day. And we prayed that you wouldn't be so mean any more.
I don't know what caused you to act the way you did. Perhaps you saw our ages and my small children and assumed we were disrespectful and rude. Your generation seems to have a very bad view of our generation. Maybe you were having a really bad day. Or maybe, for some reason, you just decided you didn't like us before you even knew us. I'm sorry if those things are the case. If you'd been having a bad day, I hope that the rest of your day was better than the beginning. I won't thank you for abusing us and treating us badly, but I'm grateful that I was able to be an example to my girls. I'm glad that they got to see their mama walking in grace.
And we'll continue to pray for you to not be so mean.
-Skye
Every day you can read stories all over social media about the various injustices that people encounter when they are out in public. Human beings have a bad habit of abusing each other and taking each other for granted in atrocious ways. I am never one to post those kinds of stories though. I sometimes feel like I walk around in a bubble of happiness because I am always treated kindly and with respect when I am out, especially with my girls. Today though... today was a different kind of day. So I'd like to leave here an open letter to the man we encountered at Aldi today.
Dear Sir,
When I sat down to write this letter I thought I had so much to say. Now, however, my brain is so full of jumble and I am still so bothered by our encounter that I am not sure where to start. Today I set out with my sister and my two small daughters to purchase groceries for our family. I enjoy taking my girls shopping and interacting with them throughout the store. We use it as a bonding time and also a learning time. We talk about colors, numbers, the alphabet. My 3-year-old loves to ask questions about the different fruits and vegetables she sees. But today, you made our excursion into an entirely different kind of learning experience for my children.
I truly would like to apologize that my sister's buggy was in the middle of the aisle as we talked about butter and decided what would work best for each of our families. We stopped in a split second when we saw the sale prices and did not notice where her buggy landed. A simple "excuse me" would have sufficed and she would have been more than happy to scoot out of your path. She most likely would have apologized for being in your way and smiled at you. Instead you decided that it was necessary to run, full speed, into her cart and knock her out of your way. My daughters saw this. My sister and I marveled at what had just occurred and decided not to linger on it.
We went about our business and turned the corner to the fresh meat aisle. I moved my buggy, with my girls in the front seat, so that it was almost touching the cooler, like I normally do, while we perused the ground beef and made a selection. I reached out for the package I wanted and suddenly a searing pain shot through my hand and stopped me in my tracks. I looked up to find that you, this same man who had banged into my sister, had now side swiped my own cart hard enough to push it the rest of the way into the cooler, and smashed my pinky between our buggies in the process. A million things passed through my brain all at once. I had to stay calm because my girls were watching me. So while I wanted to yell at you and scream in pain, I simply help my hand and tried not to cry. The pain made me instantly nauseated and I had to turn my back. You never offered help. You never muttered an apology. You stood there and watched me in pain. I noticed very quickly that there had been no reason for the "accident." Another young mom and her friend were all the way on the other side of the aisle and there was plenty of room for you to walk through. I had no words. I had no idea how to act or what to do. As you walked away with a smirk on your face I did say, loud enough that I know you heard me, that had it been my child's hand you hit, you most definitely would have broken something.
My daughters saw all of this. They saw the meanness in your face. They saw that you went out of your way to hurt someone; to hurt their mama. They saw a room full of people watch this happen and never offer even a kind word. Only their aunt, thank goodness she was with me, seemed to notice that anything was wrong with the situation. But I was able to teach my girls, especially my 3-year-old, from this. I was able to show them that it is possible to remain calm in a bad situation. I was able to teach them that harsh words aren't the answer and that grace can be shown to anyone. They got to see that it is ok to be upset and it is ok to be emotional when you've been hurt. And then my sister and I taught them the best lesson of all. We gathered at the middle of our two buggies, right there next to the ground beef and the chicken breasts, and we prayed. We prayed for protection around us for the rest of our day. We prayed for the people in the stores we would visit, and we prayed for the atmosphere wherever we would set foot for the rest of the day. And we prayed that you wouldn't be so mean any more.
I don't know what caused you to act the way you did. Perhaps you saw our ages and my small children and assumed we were disrespectful and rude. Your generation seems to have a very bad view of our generation. Maybe you were having a really bad day. Or maybe, for some reason, you just decided you didn't like us before you even knew us. I'm sorry if those things are the case. If you'd been having a bad day, I hope that the rest of your day was better than the beginning. I won't thank you for abusing us and treating us badly, but I'm grateful that I was able to be an example to my girls. I'm glad that they got to see their mama walking in grace.
And we'll continue to pray for you to not be so mean.
-Skye
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