Christmas Kindness at the Grocery Store

In later years, will I wonder why I didn't write about the decision of the Colorado state Supreme Court yesterday?  In this article, The Washington Post says, "Tuesday will go down as a momentous date in American political history, with the Colorado Supreme Court ruling that a former president engaged in insurrection and is therefore disqualified from the presidency."

If I live long enough, I'm sure I'll be shaking my head over the idea that U.S. politics ever came to this.  In truth, I've been shaking my head that way for almost a decade now.  Wow, it really has been that long.  I remember in 2015 saying that people would never elect Donald Trump, and each revelation of an unwholesome past made me more convinced that he was doomed.  I feel spooked by my error then, and so it's hard for me to make the kind of statement that many were making yesterday.

But here's what I want to remember about yesterday.  I went to the grocery store early.  We needed to restock some essentials, like toilet paper, eggs, and old-fashioned oats.  I have always liked getting to stores before the crowds get there; even before the pandemic, I had a deep uneasiness in crowds for a variety of reasons.  I got everything I needed and decided not to do the self check out.  I unloaded my cart onto the conveyor belt.

The woman ahead of me had 15 boxes of candy canes, the ones with special colors.  She was having the cashier undo her purchase.  She thought they were $1.25 a box, but they had been shelved in the wrong space.  The manager had to come over to undo the purchase, so that she could buy only 5 boxes.

The manager came over and said, "I'd be happy to let you have them for $1.25 a box if you still want them."

The woman did--she had a class full of middle-schoolers who needed a treat.  I said, "Merry Christmas!"  We all smiled at this small Christmas graciousness.

I know that the manager was probably thinking about the fact that in just a few days, he was going make huge discounts on these candy canes.  Or maybe he was thinking about a way to keep one customer happy.  He was probably not thinking of making middle schoolers so happy with a simple candy cane.  I was not part of a Hallmark Christmas movie.

But this interaction made me feel good much of the day.  It seemed kind, in ways that I don't see kindness these days, even in these days leading up to Christmas, where I used to see all sorts of kindness.