Puddles

In less than half an hour during a recent shopping trip, he saw three very human incidents. Singularly, they weren’t noteworthy, but when viewed collectively, they were. They demonstrated one of life’s timeless realities.  Life is largely determined by how we choose to live it.  

The first incident was at the service counter of a big-box store. The person in front of him was returning an item. She started off a bit snippy, telling the young guy behind the counter that she had a return and she was in a hurry. He responded courteously telling her that it should only take a minute. When he asked for a receipt, she said that she didn’t have one. He asked if she had paid with a credit card. She said she paid cash.  In a somewhat frustrated tone, she reminded him that she was in a hurry.

After scanning the item, he said the store didn’t currently carry that brand. He said without a receipt he couldn’t issue a return.  She asked to see a manager. The manager came and explained that without a receipt or a credit card record, a refund wasn’t possible. That’s when she became aggressive and nasty. 

The manager scanned the item again. Before he could say anything, she said she already knew that the store no longer carried that brand. The manager than shared that they never carried that brand, and that her item was purchased at another store. 

Sensing that this was only going it escalate, the manager said that their store brand of that item was $8.99 and with tax it would be $9.53. He swiped a store merchandise card for that amount and handed it to her. Without a thank you of any kind, she stormed off, muttering something about wasting her time. She also kept the item she had tried to return. 

He witnessed incident two, as he headed to the next store. An elderly lady trying to manage an umbrella and a package was making her way across the crosswalk.  A guy in a delivery truck apparently didn’t think she was moving fast enough. He tapped his horn which, not surprisingly, startled her. She stopped and looked up at him. Throwing his hands in the air then banging on the steering wheel, he said something to her.  She offered no response. Seemingly unaffected, she continued through the crosswalk.   

As he made his way to a grocery store, he saw incident three. He had a long list of items to get, but since the rain had picked up a little, he considered skipping that stop. Then he remembered he really need some of the items on his list for supper. He looked to see if he had an umbrella in his truck, and he did.   

When he entered the parking lot, he saw a car pull up to a large puddle. With no hesitation whatsoever, dad got out of the car, opened the back door, and his five-year-old daughter jumped out.  Offering a million dollar smile she quickly ran into the puddle. Swinging her arms and laughing in pure joy, she splashed around, as dad stood with her and mom watched from the car.  They were in no hurry at all. 

So happy to see someone having that much innocent fun, he paused before going into the grocery store. Dad saw him looking, and he offered a quick explanation.  With a shrug of his shoulders and a broad smile that matched his daughter’s, he said, “She just got new rain boots, and she wanted try them out.” 

After seeing the two previous demonstrations of how some people choose to get through their days, this one touched his heart. Responding to her dad, he said, “We should all be so happy with simple pleasures—have a great day!”

Skipping the umbrella, he made his way in to get his groceries.  The rain felt good. With groceries in hand, he made his way back to his truck. On the way, he too found a puddle.  And yes, he splashed in it!

In simple, child-like terms, there’s always going to be some stuff in life that you can’t really control.  But there is so, so much more stuff in life that you can control.  Some of the stuff you can’t control are daily frustrations, annoying irritations, and potential sources of anger. Some of the stuff you can control are how you can find simple pleasures, make the most of unpretentious joys, and knowing when to just let some stuff go.  With a little effort, you can have way more of the good stuff than the bad, but that’s ultimately up to you.

The next time you encounter a puddle take time to splash around a bit!

Thank you, Moises