A few weeks back I was shopping at a major retail store. As usual I had my kids in tow and we maneuvered through the store trying not to forget anything on the list lest we have to run a 5K to get to the other side. We were in the toothpaste aisle when we happened upon three employees from the store. What they were doing I don't know, but it took awhile for me to speak up loudly enough to ask to get through. When they turned to see me this is the "conversation" that took place:
Employee #1: Wow, you sure have your hands full. Doesn't she? Aren't her hands full?
Employee #2: No kidding. Her hands are full.
Employee #3: They sure are. Wow, her hands are extremely full.
I politely smiled at Employee #1, walked past as Employee #2 was speaking, and was turning the corner out of the aisle smiling to myself as I heard the exclamation of Employee #3. I found great humor in how much time and energy they took just to comment on how full my hands were. The best part was that I had two walking kids, one in the cart seat area, and one in my sling that I rarely shop without. Technically my hands were completely empty! Silly employees.
Fast forward a couple of weeks to my next experience at this same retail store. As I was walking out with the same above mentioned crowd with me a lady walking past me said, "Wow, you are a busy mom." I don't know if she noticed the effort it took me to smile at her comment as I was not having a particularly great day or if she thought twice about what she said. Not two seconds after we had passed one another she turned back around and tapped me on the shoulder. "You have a beautiful family!" Thank you stranger lady. Not so much for thinking my family was beautiful, but for rethinking how your original words could have been taken.
3 comments:
I agree with you. Especially now that we have 4 boys I wish people would take the time to think about what they are saying before it leaves their mouths. Why yes we do have 4 boys and we are perfectly content with that and no most days I don't feel like I have my hands full even though there are those days.
Boy, you sure have your hands full. ;-) Tee hee hee!
Yes, people have a hard time thinking before speaking, don't they?!?!
This is in no way a comparison, but perhaps some SMALL form of comfort.....
I am under 5 feet tall. Have been all my life! EVERY time I shopped, back in the day when there were actual retail clerks around to help,as I'd walk out of the dressng room to look in the mirror, tripping over excess fabric, some wise person would say, "wow, you're really short; you're going to have to hem that!"
So, nowadays, the only thing good about retail job cuts is that no one has time to stand around commenting on my God given stature! Ha!
by the way, you DO have a beautiful family :-)
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