joyful2beeblogs

I love people. I was raised in a family with lots of love and activities done together. I figured out that my job in life is to help make someone else’s day better. That was partly where my wanting to be a nurse came from. The other part was from my mother who took care of us four kids when we got sick. I enjoyed being with good, kind people and wanted to include others who were left out. I wanted others to enjoy what I enjoyed, together.

As I got older, I found that playfulness and/or sense of humor is a delightful trait that helps keep our hearts and minds young and open to joy and more pleasure. I enjoy interacting with people I see at the grocery store. It’s like we are all a kind of family with similar goals: getting our groceries. Sometimes when people are walking towards me and our eyes meet, I smile at them, and they smile back.

One time, I was looking for a plump round tomato for sandwiches, but all I could find were the oval shaped, Roma tomatoes. I mentioned this to another customer who was looking through the tomatoes. He was polite and showed me how to cut them so I could have bigger slices by cutting them from the top to the bottom of the tomato. I was tickled by his willingness to show me how to cut it. I thanked him and bought a big Roma tomato.

I have been riding a scooter at grocery stores, when available (because of back problems and later a hip that was going bad, but is now replaced). Another time, I was riding a scooter at the grocery store. I came to the end of the aisle, and there was a woman coming towards me. Accidentally, she bumped into a display and knocked off one or two cans. There were several other people there at the moment. She looked at me and said, “She did it.” I looked shocked for a second, then looked at her mischievous expression. She admitted that she had done it. We all had a good laugh and went on. How often do you see people laugh at the grocery store?

More recently, I was on the scooter and wanted to get a 6 pack of toilet paper off the top of the pile on the top shelf. Not wanting to stand up, I used my cane to ease the toilet paper off of the pile, and it fell right into my hands! I looked up as a man at the end of the aisle laughed and said, “Good job!” Both of us laughed. I laughed partly from surprise because I hadn’t seen him before I knocked the toilet paper off the shelf. It was one of those funny things that could happen at a grocery store.

I like to talk to the people who work in the grocery stores often too. One time, I noticed the lady running the cash register looked very sad. I asked her if she was alright. She told me that an old friend of hers had died and she was trying to decide whether she would go to the funeral or not. I asked her, “What do you want to do?”

She replied after one second of thought, “I want to go to the funeral.”

I answered, “Then that’s what you should do.”

She smiled and her face lit up. I felt like I had helped her make the decision, she really wanted most. I was so glad that I helped her.

At one grocery store, there is a young man, probably in his mid to late twenties, who is a paraplegic. He can’t move his legs and has some movement in his arms, but the hands are curled from paralysis. He sits at the front of the store and watches people as they leave to be sure they don’t leave anything behind, and he helps people having trouble with the cash register.

Having been a nurse in a rehab unit for people with paralysis of various kinds, I knew his life may have had some hard times. But he always has a smile on his face. So sometimes I steer my scooter towards him and say, “Hello! Where have you been? I haven’t seen you in a while.” He always lights up with a big smile. I get such great feelings when I can make someone feel good or appreciated.

By sharing good experiences with others, we may have a domino effect in reverse. Instead of knocking other dominoes down, we are picking them up and putting them back in line. Be kind to one another. We all have problems of some kind. Why make someone else’s problems worse? Why not spread a little sunshine when possible and appropriate.