When he smiled, his mouth opened up to reveal such a collection of teeth spread out, missing, rotten, of different shapes and sizes. I was purchasing fabric pieces from a local thrift store for art projects where I work and this gentleman was the customer in front of me. He and the volunteer saleswoman were talking about credit cards, lessons from parents long ago teaching them "if you don't have the money to buy it, you don't need it" eventually pulling me into the conversation. After he left, I was told the story. A woman in front of the smiling man handed the clerk her credit card as she relayed the fact that she didn't have any money. Overhearing this, my new friend promptly placed the cash on the counter to pay for her items. "You should have pulled out a credit card to pay and maybe he would have paid for your items too!" Keep in mind, we are in a thrift store run by a government agency in small town USA.
This all took place within five minutes and I was out the door heading to my car and the next errand of the afternoon. A moment in time fraught with significance. The nightly news fails to report the kindnesses of people every day across the globe choosing instead to focus on tragedy and violence. I want to know what's going on in the bigger world of which I am a citizen, but I want even more to experience these kinds of moments each and every day. Getting to participate in the human experience in all its many facets is a privilege not to be taken for granted, viewed lightly or squandered. I wonder what "moment" awaits me tonight, tomorrow. With eyes wide open, I will carry on.
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