While I was shopping this morning for my family I was waiting in line to make some purchases when I overheard two elderly women in front of me talking about their church and how excited they were for the upcoming Christmas service they were having soon. I stood there pretending to mind my own business, and not pay attention to the women, although my attention is easily arrested when I overhear people talk about church and the Lord. The two women exchanged a few testimonies of how the Lord had been good to them over the years, and they became a bit excited at the idea of Christ's coming the first time.
However, all of their Christian virtue seemed to leak out of the bottom of their shoes as soon as they approached the register and made their purchases only to learn that the coupons they had excluded the items they wanted to purchase at an additional percentage off. At that point, the idea of Jesus Christ and His first advent took a back seat, and these women swallowed whatever impatient devil that was belched from the deepest bowels of hell, and these two little sweet church-going ladies became furious and angry. Instead of speaking in other tongues as the Holy Ghost gave the utterance, these ladies uttered vowels, consonants, and syllables that would make a sailor blush. I couldn't believe these were the same two little old ladies who were giddy over Christmas just moments before, and who transformed in to the customers from Satan's throne room.
The poor young girl at the register began to burst in to tears as these little women began to swear at her. They shattered her emotions in to a thousand pieces or more, because it was not her fault that the ladies didn't understand the exclusions to their coupons they wished to use.
Suddenly, I began to sing "Jesus is the reason for the season...." and the little old ladies calmed down, stepped away form the register, and placed their merchandise back from whence it came, but did not apologize for what they had done to the young lady at the register.
To make things better for the young girl I apologized to her and assured her that not all Christians are vicious hypocrites like she had just witnessed moments before. She recomposed herself and assisted me with my purchase, and she was in better spirits by the time I had left.
The moral of this story is simple: be kind to retail employees. They've already got enough to deal with during this time of year. The last thing they need is for some religious fruit loop to tarnish Christianity further in their eyes then what may already have occurred.
Merry Christmas!
+Dante
, I must say this may be the true test.
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