one line, two line, everywhere a line line...

If someone is too tired to give you a smile, leave one of your own, because no one needs a smile as much as those who have none to give.

Yesterday I went shopping. It’s not something I really enjoy doing these days.
Even so, I do enjoy choosing gifts for those I love. Anyway, by the end of this outing, I was dreadfully tired and my body was crying out for a couch. By the last store on my list, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make it to the car, let alone finding the car in the first place.

In the last store, I was in line, a very long line, a line that reached past the display aisles, a line beside two other lines, the other lines looking just like my line. The people in the lines weren’t talking. The people in the lines weren't smiling. The people in the lines looked frazzled and harried and weary. The people in the lines looked as if they’d been in many other lines before. The lines were a pitiful sight.

Eventually, my line crept forward enough so that I reached the counter, paid for my purchases, and happily headed for the door. I heard a couple of voices from the lines calling “Ma’am!” “Ma’am!” I turned around to see I was the “Ma’am.” I had left my bag of goodies on the counter. Embarrassing, to say the least. Then, one lady said, “I did the same thing yesterday!” Someone else in the lines laughed and said, “I think we’ve shopped enough, already!” Soon, the lines were talking and laughing with each other. I smiled at the lines as I left the store, bag clutched tightly in hand.

I’m happy that I spread a little joy yesterday. Sometimes it pays to be wacky.