Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, 13 keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. Psalm 34:12-13
I stood in line at the pharmacy counter with my two boys and largely pregnant belly. I noticed my 7 year old looked a little pale but he stood in line with me patiently waiting and quiet. I silently prayed they’d have our prescription ready when I got to the counter so we could finally head home.
Suddenly my oldest son sat down on the linoleum floor and then laid down flat on his back.
“Chad, are you okay?”
He shook his head no.
I panicked and looked from the cart back to my boy and wondered how I could get him into the basket of the cart to get out of the store.
“Is everything okay?” the pharmacist stuck her head out over the counter to see what was going on.
The woman behind me stepped over my son and up to the counter.
“He’s just throwing a fit because she told him no.” She handed her prescription to the pharmacist.
“He is not throwing a fit,” I squared my shoulders. “We don’t know if he has been having seizures or just fainting the past few days.” I turned back to my son and hoisted him into the cart with much effort. No one offered their help.
Obviously, this woman was wrong with her assumption and I never have understood where she got her idea because neither of my boys had made so much as a peep while we stood in line and my son wasn’t making a sound at all while he lay on the floor with his eyes glassy.
How many times do we make assumptions about another person’s life because we think we’ve witnessed something? If we don’t truly know what is going on and we speak about it to anyone else, we are spreading gossip and lies.
I’m thankful that my son wasn’t having a medical emergency since this woman so easily dismissed the situation to the pharmacist. As it turned out, he was a fainter and 7 years later seems to have completely grown out of it almost unscathed. He did suffer one bad concussion during those years. He would just suddenly pass out. It was scary, even after we knew what was going on with him.
The next time you see a situation that baffles you and you find yourself ready to make a snap judgment, ask if everything is okay like the pharmacist did. Or ask if there is something you can do to help. You never know when someone’s really struggling and all they need is an ounce of kindness to calm their day, even if it means stepping out of line at the pharmacy.
Have you ever dealt with a situation like this? How did you react?
So true! I think it’s also important to be careful how we treat people because we never know if they will end up being our blessing some day. I taught high school for awhile and my kids that first year treated me like dirt. I told them they’d better watch out how they treat me because one day they might need me…I might be in the position of being able to give them a job or a recommendation or something of that nature, and they would want me to give a good report.
We never know when we are “entertaining angels” unaware! I definitely agree with your post…although I have to sadly admit that I am certain many times I’ve been guilty of spreading gossip and lies when I don’t have the fullness of the truth. 🙁 Ouch!
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Oh yes, I am 100% certain I’ve done it too!
I am sure we can all come up with countless examples of callous treatment by others. I am just as sure that I have said something stupid that hurt someone else without even knowing it. We are so engaged with our selves we don’t even see what another may be struggling with. Also we often forget to engage our brains before we open our mouths. I don’t think it is a coincidence that the book of Proverbs has a vast number of verses about controlling your tongue!
I am thankful your son has grown out of his fainting spells. I can’t imagine how trying that must have been for you.
Have a blessed Mother’s Day.
Very good point about Proverbs! And yes, I know I’ve done it too. You have a blessed Mother’s day too 🙂
Oh my word, my anger just rose a few notches reading this post. Your sweet boy is on the floor, and that lady not only steps over him but assumes he’s just throwing a fit? Maybe that is her point of reference, meaning, her children often threw fits. I am so sorry! I am saddened that no one offered to help you either. ACH! This makes me crazy.
I have been pondering, a great day lately, about how mean mothers are to one another. Always comparing, always commenting, always doing so much damage to one another. If only we would encourage one another more and offer help rather than our two cents! Great post, and glad your boy is doing ok.
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Very true! We moms can be very judgmental and mean to each other! I was pretty surprised by the whole thing, even after I clarified, no one offered a hand. And he was completely limp when I was getting him into the cart. I can’t imagine behaving like that in that situation.
Good post! I can’t think of any specific situations like this off the top of my head, but I wrote this post (http://gettingoutofmyboat.blogspot.com/2011/02/revolution-of-love.html) on a similar theme back in February.
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