Lessons In A Grocery Store

In our daily routines, there is always something to see.
There are little nuances that we can easily miss if we are preoccupied with other things.
In the things that we see and in the nuances we notice, we see evidence of God.
God never wastes anything; He uses the littlest thing to teach us truth.

Since I go to the grocery store once a week, that seems to be the place I learn the most.
I know the people that work there.
I even see some of the same customers that shop the same day I do.
Occasionally, depending on what my day is like, I will go to another grocery store.

An experience at a different store was actually a Biblical object lesson.
The different store was really the same store I used to shop years ago.
When my children were small, I would shop there with all five of them each week.
Some of the cashiers are still the same women I knew all those years ago.

The cashier that helped me on this day was someone I had not seen in years.
She remembered me, which was lovely.
She talked about her grandchildren who have been born since I saw her last.
It was nice to catch up with someone I used to see every week.

She was sliding my groceries over the UPC scanner with precision.
There was even a sweet girl bagging my groceries at the other end.
I had a large pack of paper towels on the bottom of my shopping cart.
I picked it up for her to scan and intended to put it right back.

After a few more groceries went down the belt, she asked me to get the paper towels again.
I assumed that they did not scan the first time.
I handed her the large pack.
She used her hand held scanner to read the UPC symbol.

Uh oh, she said.
My cash register froze, she said with frustration in her voice.
I saw some of the people who were behind me leave the line to go to another cash register.
I’m sorry, she said as she blinked her light to inform a manager she needed help.

The manager came over and pushed a few buttons.
They talked, and pointed, and looked concerned.
There is a problem with the system, the manager said.
It happened when I scanned the paper towels, she informed him.

I wanted to say, I don’t need the paper towels, if that would help them.
Half of my order was bagged and in my shopping cart.
The other half was sitting on the black belt looking very forlorn and forgotten.
Is that her order, too?  The manager asked pointing to all my fruits and vegetables.

Yes, all of that is hers as well, the cashier said.
We will have to bring all of this down to register 14 and ring it up there, the manager said.
The remaining people in line left to go to another register.
It felt as if every eye in the store was on the cashier and me.

The cashier kept apologizing.
She turned off her light so no one would come to her line.
The girl who was bagging my groceries said, We’re on our way to number 14!
She was so pleasant and flexible; it was refreshing and I told her so.

Thanks for being so positive, I said.
It really helps, the cashier said and meant it.
My bagged groceries were in my shopping cart while the manager went to get me another one.
Without being asked, the girl who was bagging placed the rest of my order in the extra cart.

You push that one, she said pointing, cause your purse is there and I don’t want to touch that.
That made me laugh.
We got down to register 14 and the rest of my groceries were scanned.
The cashier and I laughed about technology.

It’s great when it works, was our general consensus.
She and I are close in age.
We remarked how we would be just fine if technology came crashing down around us.
We can add with pencil and paper, know how to use an encyclopedia instead of Google.

We were laughing about the entire ordeal.
What was the alternative?
Grumble?
Complain?

It was inconvenient for her and for me.
It prolonged my shopping trip more than I would have preferred.
But we laughed.
There was no finger pointing or blame.

The only thing we complained about was technology when it fails.
Even that had a silver lining since we reminded ourselves of the skills we learned in school.
We would be just fine.
We were just fine.

It is good to laugh.
Laughter is the best medicine.
Laughter decreases stress hormones, increases immune cells, and infection fighting antibodies.
Laughter releases endorphins which promote a sense of well-being and can also relieve pain.

Instead of fretting about something that was not in our control, we laughed.
Instead of blaming and complaining, we struggled through it together.
It was the girl who bagged the groceries that summed it all up without realizing it.
Praise the Lord, we are going down to number 14, was what she said as she pushed the cart.

She didn’t think I heard her but I did.
Praise the Lord.
Yes, praise the Lord.
Praise Him in the mess, in the detour, in the struggle; praise Him in all things.

A cheerful heart is good medicine but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. (Proverbs 17:22)

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation in which you shine like stars in the universe, as you hold out the word of life…(Philippians 2:14-16)

I thought of God’s word as I drove home.
A cheerful heart is good medicine.
Do everything without complaining or arguing.
I had a Biblical object lesson in the grocery store.

Noted.