one mile

go ahead. sit down. pull up a chair and put on your favorite pair of my shoes. yes, you read that right, MY shoes. now walk a mile in them. and listen.

i was slowly and carefully crossing the parking lot at Target today (as all good drivers SHOULD do, and as my husband will attest to, i am THE definition of careful driver!) going down the "down" lane looking both ways, when out of the blue a perfectly coiffed young lady (in her early 20's if i had to guess) came ZIPPING across the lot, not in any lane mind you, at what i would consider an "unsafe" speed. (not that i am an expert or anything.) She cut right in front of me and honked at ME! Yes! ME! for driving like a grandma in MY LANE! i tooted back because i felt i did not deserve the honk. after all i had the parking lot "right of way" so to speak.

well, my honk was the wrong move apparently. she SLAMMED on the brakes (of her very nice white new BMW by the way) backed up quickly, unrolled her window and yelled at me, "you got a problem (insert your favorite not very nice word here)? huh? did you hear me? i said DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM (same word again)!"

i sat there for a second and thought, "well, i am pretty sure she is not REALLY asking me if i have a problem, like as in a REAL "problem" in my life..." but since i was feeling a little pissy at her i unrolled MY window and said, "well besides your driving, and not calling me very nice words, i ACTUALLY DO have a few problems going on in my life right now-would you like to hear about them?" and then, i smiled and waved at her.

it stopped her for about 1/2 a second before she told me i was a "crazy (same word again)!!", swirling her pointer finger next to her head in the "crazy" motion. She then proceeded to give me a very expressive middle finger. After which she drove (quickly) off in her very nice car, with her newly highlighted, nicely styled hair and pressed clothes. (probably saying a few more choice words about me as she drove off.)

it took me another half of a second to burst into tears and sob uncontrollably all the way home!

OH! the injustice of it all! what a snotty girl, i thought.

how DARE SHE! she was "in the wrong"! not me. how could

anyone be so RUDE? what was HER PROBLEM? She didn't know

that I really DID have some problems going on in my life(nor

did she probably care!)

But then halfway home i thought, well maybe SHE was having a

really bad day. (hopefully a REALLY BAD day)

maybe when i honked at her it was the last thing SHE needed.

Who knows if that is true. maybe she is

just not a very nice person in general who goes around

yelling *(&@#@ to complete strangers in parking lots.

My whole point in this long and sorted tale, is that we NEVER

really know what's going on with another person. We never

know their intent, the goodness OR badness, of their hearts

unless we can "walk" that figurative mile in their shoes.

Judging is really easy to do. It's the easy answer as to why

someone is they way they are.

And i have said it before and will say

it again--until you KNOW (and i mean REALLY KNOW) a person,

judging can often be wrong. MOST people, when you get to

know them are often different than a first impression, or

judgement, of them. Sometimes even people you THINK you've

known for a long time, maybe you still don't REALLY know

them. I had the chance recently to talk to someone i did not

know all that well.

i mean REALLY talk to them, for the first time ever.

The insight that conversion gave me, completely altered MY

perception of this person.

It gave me pause to think and examine all i THOUGHT i knew.

So my message is...just walk a mile. And if you think you

know WHY someone is the way they are, and you haven't ever

REALLY given them a chance. Give them one! or two!

You may be pleasantly surprised when you find out who they

really are.

In the meantime, if you happen to see a white BMW with

plate number...

Ok i am kidding. I am SURE she had a perfectly good reason

for her behavior today~

walkin' a mile people, walkin' a mile!