The Strangers of Kindness

Before I write another thing, I want to say two seemingly unconnected things: 1) people are generally kind and well meaning; and 2) I give and accept prayers willingly.

We had a wild and exciting trip to Target on Saturday morning. Maggie loves going to Target, there is so much to look at and the aisles are nice and wide for easy maneuvering with the wheelchair. Dad came with us, which is a bonus. He and Maggie kept disappearing down different aisle and returning with some ridiculous item that we did not need. Maggie enjoyed that immensely. I would say "put it back" and Dad would say "Mom's no fun." We spent over an hour going through the aisles filling the basket with necessities. They were mostly supplies for Maggie’s care. We use a lot of stuff and buying at Target saves us a bundle.

We finished our loop around the store and got in line to pay. There was a middle-aged woman in front of us in line along with her mother (actually mother in law as I learned a few minutes later.) She smiled at us and we smiled back. It was a pleasant moment.

Maggie started making her “hungry noise”(as we call it). To a stranger it sounds only like a quiet smacking of the lips. However, if Maggie could speak she would be saying, “Hey you two, are you watching the clock? This chick is STARVING TO DEATH.” Suffice it to say when we hear that noise we feed her. Maggie eats every two hours, and if you run over time too long, she will start with that noise. It is a frequent unexciting event. We always have what the tube and prescribed food with us, so Steve took her over to the seats in the cafeteria area to feed her and I stayed in line to pay for the basketful of fun. No one even noticed this because it was just no big deal.

The woman in front of us left and I was standing at the ATM trying to line up the stripe on my card the right way. (Always a challenge for me). Suddenly the woman was back with her face about two inches from mine asking my first name. She scared the bejeebers out of me. I thought maybe I knew her from somewhere and told her. Still, about two inches from my nose she locked eyes with mine and very intently said, “Sally, I know your life must be difficult. My mother in law and I pray together every morning and want to include Maggie and you in our prayers.” (Steve was OUT, apparently).

How am I supposed to respond to this? The physical response was to lean backward away from her face. And the brilliant verbal comeback…..”Uhhh, thanks?”

It is very kind, it is very well intentioned, but it is very odd to have a stranger in your face telling you how hard your life is. The woman left and I just looked at the checker whose eyebrows were up at her hairline. She looked intently at the items she was scanning. I did not say a word. I was flummoxed.

After I paid the $144 for the supplies, I went over to Maggie and Steve who were just finishing the feeding. I told him what happened and sort of screwed my face up and said, “it’s very nice, but it’s just weird, what am I supposed to say.”

Steve did not bat an eye. He just said, “Tell her if she wants to help to give us the $144, right Mag”

Maggie just laughed because Dad is a riot.