Compassionate Acts Revealed!

This is an act of compassion that was observed by a member of our community this Lent. Perhaps you have seen other such signs of compassion or been moved to act in a compassionate way this Lent. Let us pass on this sign of God’s life.

At noon on Saturday a distracted baby boomer (DBB) talking on an iPhone entered a crowded post office with many assembled in a very congested space waiting to be served by the postal clerk. As the group moved forward, a young lady and an older woman moved forward together with the DBB. After a few minutes the younger woman decided to announce to the DBB that she and older woman were actually in line ahead of the DBB. The older woman nodded in agreement. The DBB arrogantly responds “What? Oh really? How’d that come about?”

The younger person explains that they had simply stepped aside to allow the DBB to enter the door, and were therefore ahead of the DBB. With a huff and a few more angry words the DBB steps back and gruffly says, “Go ahead then.”As the younger and older women then move to assert their position in line, the next 2-3 minutes are tense. A lot of anger and resentment seemed lingering in the air. The DBB then put away her iPhone. She addressed the two women and genuinely apologized, saying she had not been paying attention to who was standing where when she entered the post office, since she had been distracted while talking on the phone. With that decision to let go of who may be right or wrong, who might be first or last, who would ‘win’ or ‘lose‘, the atmosphere completely changed. All three women began to chat amicably.

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