"Once again, we come to the Holiday Season, a deeply religious time that each of us observes, in his own way, by going to the mall of his choice." - Dave Barry
Is there a less peaceful way to spend Advent than shopping at a mall, on a Saturday afternoon, two weeks before Christmas? I think not. But I needed just one more thing. The backed-up traffic on the exit ramp and the jam-packed parking lot should have told me to turn around. But no, I just had to do it.
The swelling crowds and long lines were just as awful as one might expect.
So, I decided I had to do three things to give some measure of peace to three shoppers. These acts all occurred at good ole JC Penney:
1. A lady went to the front of the checkout line just to ask for another, bigger bag. The clerk could not find one. I gave her mine.
2. The line in Misses clothing was obscene. I went to the line on the other side of the store; very few people were in line. So, I checked out and then went to the awful line, and told them the line over there was much shorter. All the shoppers looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language; but one of the shoppers thanked me and made a beeline for it.
3. Can you think of anything less peaceful than finding Men’s jeans? The piles and piles of styles, colors, and sizes make me queasy. And can you ever find the size you are looking for? So, my heart went out to an elderly lady looking for jeans. She was looking through the piles, glancing at her list, and digging with ONE hand. The other manicured hand she held straight up. I couldn’t tell if she couldn’t use it, or just preferred not to. I stopped and asked if she would like me to help. And of course she did. It turns out she had injured her right hand. So I dove right in. Right size, wrong color, right inseam, wrong length. We’ve all been through it. Finally, success! I found it! We were both equally happy; I had been successful in my search, and she could get the jeans crossed of her list. She thanked me profusely.
I won’t go so far as to say PEACE reigned at the mall. But I do hope those acts of PEACE got these three people a little closer to the Advent spirit.