Do
you agree with this quote I saw on the t-shirt of a passing stranger? “Sarcasm
is the body’s natural reaction to stupidity.”
With the biggest shopping day of the holiday season (Black Friday)
looming on the near horizon, long check-out lines at your favorite retail
stores is a reasonable guarantee. (Avoid the stress. Wait for Cyber Monday.
Order your Christmas gifts on-line.)
Chances
are frazzled cashiers will be working as best they can on that crazy retail day
after Thanksgiving. Some customers may have a sarcastic comment like the
following one rattling around in their head. “Why can’t this line move faster?
My ninety year-old grandmother (or a blind person) could do a quicker job
scanning my purchases than these cashiers are.”
Before
becoming a cashier at Staples, I would have had a variety of negative thoughts
about waiting in a long line. These days I try to be a little less judgmental.
The blinders are off my eyes when it comes to all the unexpected things that
can happen to a cashier at check-out time.
Often
times, we perceive words (or situations) as idiotic when we are scared, don’t
understand the full context of the situation, or have biases against the giver
of the message.
It
is always a positive action to give others the respect verbally you’d expect if
you were communicating an important message. (This also includes your on-line
communication. Seek to encourage on Facebook.)
Give
your kindest self to all those around you. When correction is needed, do it in
love. “What Would Jesus Do?” should be your standard always. Give others the benefit of the doubt. Who
knows what they are going through? Be an uplifting difference maker. (Doing
good for others randomly is fun.) If you don’t know what to say (or do) in a
given situation, remain silent and still. Pray to your Heavenly Father for
guidance. He won’t disappoint you.
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