Kind Strangers

Day Eighty-seven: Today, Ariel and I went grocery shopping. I haven't been regular grocery shopping since January. I've picked up things we needed here and there. I've been to Harris Teeter for doubles and triples. But this was the real deal. I looked up recipes, picked out meals, assigned meals to dates, made a list, and compared coupons to the list. We didn't have tons of coupon help, but generic brands were a great help. I stayed pretty much on budget considering I probably won't do this again for a couple of months.

Our shopping trip took two hours and Ariel was pretty content the whole time. There was a little assistance from teddy grahams, but really she was great. I filled out cart to almost overflowing...Ariel had bags of chips on either side of her in the baby seat when we rolled up to the cashier and my body is a little sore from trying to manueuver the too full cart through the store. I was excited that I remembered my  reuseable bag stash and used them all. That part, however, didn't go so smoothly.

I discovered the bag spinner isn't reusable-bag friendly. Halfway through putting the groceries onto the conveyor belt I realized I needed to be helping with the bagging if I wanted those bags used. So for a minute or two, I jumped back and forth between the two - unloading groceries and bagging groceries and reloading cart.

Eventually, a lady got in line behind me (with only a few items). I warned her that she probably didn't want this line, but she stayed. She saw my dilemna and quickly chipped in. She loaded the rest of the items on the belt and entertained Ariel while I bagged and organized and took out coupons and money. Her daughter joined her in line about the time we were going through the coupon hassle. She talked to Ariel and made her giggle a lot. They really improved the mood of the checkout line.

I am thankful for these two ladies. They didn't complain about the year and half it took me to check out. They didn't give me dirty looks. They helped. They were kind and friendly. And I'll probably never see them again. They didn't do a whole lot necessarily, but then again to me they kinda did.

Thank you, God, for good people. Thank you for these two ladies making an uncomfortable moment enjoyable for everyone. Thank you for their generous attitudes. I was blessed by their kindness. Thank you for Ariel's great mood today and especially during our shopping trip.



What's this about? I decided on my birthday to make a commitment to being intentionally thankful. I challenged myself to post one thing I am thankful for everyday this year.