Needless to say, i am glad today is over. Christmas is always more stressful than it needs to be. My Christmas baby turned 23 today, and he has COVID. I went to pick him up, so he wouldn't spend the day home alone and sick. On the way back, we stopped at a gas station. This was a gas station at a pretty busy intersection. 3 of the 4 corners have gas stations. Only 2 of the 4 were open. I walk in to get my son some sprite, and the poor kid at the counter looked like the day just couldn't get any worse. I asked him if he was o.k. My kids hate when I do this. I will talk to everyone, especially if I think they need someone to care.
As soon as I asked him if he was o.k., he blurted out this saga of having been there since 2 p.m. and not being able to go to the bathroom. It was about 6:30 at this point and the gas station is packed. I ask him if he wants me to stand at the counter and just fend off the line of people until he can run to the bathroom and back. He tells me he isn't allowed to do that. The store has to be empty so he can lock the door and put a sign up, and that the store isn't ever going to be empty. I asked him what time he got off of work. 10 p.m.
Not being able to go to the bathroom is definitely something that I know something about, running a food truck. This kid looked miserable. There was nothing he would let me do for him, because he was adhering to the company policies. I don't know if it even made him feel better to be able to complain for a minute, because he still needed to go to the bathroom.
I do know, that sometimes, someone just needs to be heard and recognized. I empathized with him. He was doing a great job pushing through. I thanked him for showing up to work. I do that a lot these days. Lots of people are not showing up for work. Lots of people, would have walked out of that gas station, instead of continued to be miserable AND adhere to company policies. I was willing to as make an announcement and ask everyone to step outside for 2 minutes. He said no to that also.
The part of me that wishes there was more kindness in the world hopes that he went home, and our interaction was a memorable experience for him. I hope that maybe someday he will pass along the kindness I tried to show today to some else.
Christmas is an easy day to be a little extra kind, and a lot of people never chose that route. Every day is a good day to be a little kind. Maybe we all use this week between Christmas and New Year's to be a little extra kind to people who are and aren't struggling before our eyes. It might mean more than you know.
Comments