IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

There are so many opportunities in our daily encounters with people to find joy and appreciation. One such opportunity happened to me this week. I was at Big Lots shopping for birthday gifts, had made my selection, plus a few other unintended purchases, and I was standing in line to check out. The person in front of me had quite a few items, too, so the wait was longer than expected. It worked to my advantage or I would have missed a good laugh. A very pretty young lady of about 25 walked up behind me in the company of a strikingly beautiful little girl of about three or four years old. The little beauty had long, black hair, lily white skin, big blue eyes and was dressed in her Sunday best dress. She was a picture of health and happiness. Most three or four year old kids who are forced to wait in line are not patient like this little beauty, nor are they so well behaved. The little one was intrigued by the Halloween suckers at the end of the counter. She would pick one up, make a remark about it and show it to her mom. She never asked for one, never begged for the candy which was plentiful on the aisle. She was engrossed in the animal shapes of the suckers. Her mom was patient with her, not once sharply telling the little girl to put down the suckers. The mom knew her daughter and knew that the child would handle them with care and place them back in their proper place, which she did. That exchange between mom and daughter went on for about five minutes as the lady in front of me seemed to have some trouble writing her check. When the elderly lady’s purchase was complete, I knew the little girl needed to have her waiting time shortened, so I told her mom to go ahead of me and check out. Her mom was grateful and thanked me. The little girl joined in the graciousness and thanked me also. The mom told the child to put her desired purchase, which was clutched in her small hand, onto the counter so that the checker could ring up the price. The child laid it down and I was surprised that it was a package of Chap Stick. I was expecting a toy or maybe some candy because of the patience of the little one. It was almost like there was a 30 year old inside the body of the small child. The checker rang up the purchase and informed the mom of the price, who began searching in her purse for the right change. The little black haired, well mannered little girl stood staring at the checker with a look of concern on her face. Then the innocence and childlikeness came to the surface. She said to the checker, who had very dark maroon lipstick on her large lips, “Did you know your lips are dead?” Her little voice was full of concern, not criticism. She wanted the lady to know something was obviously wrong with the checker’s mouth, something to which the checker might be oblivious, that maybe her lips had died on the way to her work day. The checker was a good sport and laughed loudly, as did the mom and me. That was a surprise to the little girl because of the amount of concern she had for the lady. I appreciated the reaction of the mom. She quietly said, “Sweetheart, this presents an occasion for some instructions when we get to the car.“ That was quoted with a sweet, loving voice, not one of stern chastisement or harsh discipline. The mom and daughter walked out the door with the same sense of mutual love that had been shared by them while waiting in line. The mom knew how to handle the situation, with love and patience. As they walked out the door, the checker again erupted into loud laughter, telling the people in line behind me what the innocent, caring little beauty had commented with such concern for her. I’m sure the little treasured girl learned a lesson from her loving mom, one given with gentleness. I learned a lesson, too. I’m throwing away all of my maroon lipstick, not wanting to cause nightmares for any small child who might think this woman’s lips are dead, too.