Aa few days ago I was waiting in line at Subway and a lady walks up to stand in line behind me and after looking at the menu a few seconds loudly says, “Are you kidding me? Why do you keep changing the menu? It makes me so mad that you would do that.” All of this was directed at the poor teenage girl who was taking orders. I felt awkward because I was the only other customer  and I had to stop directing her on what to put on my sweet onion chicken teriyaki sandwich as this lady went on a rant and the poor employee mumbled apologies obviously not sure how she could fix the situation. A few days after Christmas Jesse and I were standing in a long checkout line at Target. You can imagine how busy it was at the time and this lady behind us was on the phone and she said “People are so stupid, there’s a shorter check out line that no one is going to.” Both of these situations really weren’t unusual, but they stuck with me and I’ve been more aware of people around me and how they act in certain situations.

People are watching what you do and how you act every single day. Even more so now that we have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and all the other social media sites. In our lesson yesterday at church the girl teaching said something that I liked,  “Everyone is an example whether it is for good or for what not to do.” I practically stalk a handful of people on Facebook or other social media sites and I’m usually stalking them because they inspire me or their life is like a bad reality TV show that you can’t tear your eyes away from. If people “stalk” me and strangers watch how I act, am I a good example? I’m not sure, but it’s a good question to ask myself on a daily basis I’ve decided. I know there are days when I walk into the grocery store and drive home without smiling at a single person. Even today at the store an older man cut in front of me to grab some dried mangos and I put my hand on my hips hoping he would realize that he cut in front of me. It makes me laugh out loud now as I write because what a silly little thing to get upset about!

I hope that there aren’t strangers out there that remember “the scowling girl from the grocery store”and think that I’m inherently an unhappy person. I’d like to think that I’m generally a nice and happy person so why not share the love and possibly brighten someones day? I’m sure those two women were just having a bad day or were just really hungry (I get unreasonably upset at little things too when I’m hungry so I could understand.) There’s never a reason to be rude to someone, but always a reason to be nice. I hope that I can remember this the next time someone cuts in front of me at the store or when the old lady in front of me is going 15 miles under the speed limit. If I am an example to someone out there, I hope it’s a good one.

Yours Sincerely,

A natural scowler working on her smile.