R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Find out what it means to me...and what does it mean to you?

I witnessed two events this past week that I found to be very troubling. Both incidents have to do with respect--or the lack thereof. Beyond feeling troubled, I am absolutely disgusted at the disrespect people show for each other.

The first incident occurred at a local restaurant. After a fun family day, the hubby and I decided to splurge on going out for ice-cream. An older woman--maybe mid-sixties--cheerfully greeted me, took my order, accepted my payment with a pleasant, "Thank you," and gave me the correct change. Two minutes later, I was ready to go, when I caught that my order wasn't exactly right. This was not a big deal, and the woman immediately apologized, but smack in the middle of her apology, another employee (who appeared to be a supervisor and was maybe around twenty years old), rudely grabbed my corrected order and shoved it at me, all while barking at the original server, "How hard is it to serve ice-cream? Huh?"

I stood there with my mouth hanging open, not quite believing what I was hearing. It's possible that maybe the server had messed up twenty orders that day and the supervisor was just frustrated, but I know I felt embarrassed about the outburst, and the server looked absolutely humiliated, her head of gray hair bowed, eyes downcast. I shot the supervisor a dirty look, but said nothing. I was afraid if I opened my mouth, something rude would come flying out, and I didn't want to make the woman's situation any worse.

A few days later, I was grocery shopping, and I saw a cute little boy, maybe about two years old, sitting in a shopping cart, happily swinging his legs and quietly clapping his hands. His parents (I presume it was his parents anyway) both had their backs turned, looking at something on a shelf. About that time, I smiled and winked at the boy, and he burst out with a loud, "La la la!" Faster than I could blink, the father turned and grabbed the boy's hands and snarled out, "How many times do I have to tell you to quit fooling around?" The boy turned and looked at his mother, who responded with, "Don't look at me. I already told you to shut up because I'm sick of hearing you." The boy just hung his head, not making a sound.

For the second time in less than a week, I found myself completely speechless. I know kids can be a handful. I'm a mom, my kid is a kid, and of course I get frustrated sometimes, but no matter what my child does, I am in charge of how I react. I had silently kicked myself for not speaking up at the restaurant, but this time, I couldn't let it slide. I piped up with a quick, "Hey, sorry about that. I was smiling and winking at him because he's so cute."

The mother and father both looked startled--neither of them had seen me. I stood there smiling, not really sure what to do next. The mom tousled her son's hair and muttered out, "Sorry kiddo."

The father stood there, glaring at me, eyes smoldering, obviously angry at the intrusion, and I found myself locked into a staring match. He must have seen the darkness that had crept into my eyes and the venom dripping from the corners of my mouth, because he finally turned away, saying nothing at all.

I stood there for a few more seconds, trying to slow my rapid heartbeat, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw the little boy shyly peek around his mother and give me a little smile. It warmed my heart, but made me sad, too.

The elderly are being disrespected and humiliated in public. Children are being disrespected and humiliated in public. These are just two incidents. When I told people about them, the general response was, "Oh, it happens all the time." And I just thought, It happens all the time. ALL the time.

Then I got to thinking about how God is all around us. Maybe God was in that server at the restaurant and He was disappointed in me. Or maybe God was in that little boy and He was pleased that I defended an innocent soul. Maybe God just took note and was pleased that even though I made a mistake, I did my best to make up for it.

I don't have control over many things, but I have the power to influence others and lead by example. I hope my actions influence my daughter to be respectful and kind to all people, because it matters. It matters.