"stretch in the direction of goodness, of bigness, of kindness, of forgiveness, of emotional bravery.
be a warrior for love."
be a warrior for love."
-cheryl strayed, tiny beautiful things
it's 6:30 on sunday morning. already today i have been led to the edge of judgement and preachiness by a barista who had the annoying ability to be boop-boop-be-doo adorable (cue twirling pinkie in cheek and babydoll eyes looking coyly to an unseen object in the upper left corner of the room) and completely dismissive at the same time.
my impulse was to lay her out, tell her what was what in the big girl world of you-are-being-paid-to-exercise-that-thing-called-customer-service and you cannot treat customers (or fellow human beings) like this, in a way that i feel frighteningly entitled to do. i wanted so badly to teach her a lesson she would never forget.
this is my automatic pilot when situations are uncomfortable for me: to wield my sardonic i-know-better weapon, fully loaded with words that will pierce you, hot and quick.
instead, recognizing that the stunned moment we experience in the face of unexpected rudeness is the moment of choice rather than the moment to rally the troops, i take a breath and choose to let it go. i feel the wash of empathy for all the experiences she will have that will repeatedly nudge her to do the work of her life and relief that this is not my responsibility or privilege.
thank you for the practice, adorable barista. thank you for the lesson i will never forget.
