I laughed. I knew I shouldn’t.  I knew I should be empathetic.  But, I laughed as a friend shared her shopping experience this weekend!

Holiday woes.  We are so busy, even manic!  Here’s the story:

My friend went to shop in an early evening this past week, grabbing many, many items needed for the holidays.  As my friend went to check out it was obvious to see that the woman behind her was aggravated, anxious, and in a hurry!

In a quick move, my friend’s hand slipped and she spilled her entire Starbucks coffee into her shopping cart.  As she wiped the items clean the aggravated shopper glared at her and in a snarky voice said  ‘Good girl for cleaning the floor”.

Once clean,  my friend proceeded to place her items on the cart. The shopper behind her began to tap her toes, showing even further anxiety.   Once the items were unloaded  a slow checker began pricing and bagging the items.   In a surprising moment the checker, by accident, knocked over a coffee beverage in a glass container onto the floor; another mess!!

The anxious shopper, at that moment, threw her hands in the air and screamed ” Can you just check my items out already????”  Her heightened aggravation, her tight time schedule, and her holiday frustration now affected everyone!   Is the busyness worth it? is it worth making a spectacle of ourselves and impacting others?

As we navigate the holidays let’s be people of patience, grace, kindness, and joy!  Can we all commit to forgiving the blunders that are simply human, and can we simply extend kindness?  Let’s help others have a very Merry Christmas!

Don’t let the holidays change the good person you are! 🙂