Happy Christmas

I hope Everyone had a good Christmas.

One of the things I really try to do is not judge people. I find it really important not to make assumptions before I get to know someone. Today I failed miserably and it bothered me more than it normally does. This morning, I was getting some milk and yogurt from the grocery store. I approached the cashier (I chose a real person instead of the self-checkout to preserve some personability, so I was already feeling really good about myself). I felt sorry for the cashier because he was working on Christmas. I then proceeded to assume that the guy was a jack hole since only someone as depraved as that would even think about working on Christmas, of course. I gave him two gallons of milk and two containers of yogurt. He finished scanning and there were two containers of yogurt but only one gallon of milk on the screen. I pointed this out, and then seeing the 2 (from 2% milk) on the screen I quickly "caught" my mistake and we both shrugged. I looked that the receipt, and concluded that he actually only scanned one gallon of milk and offered to pay again for the unaccounted-for gallon of milk. He again shrugged and said, "Merry Christmas." I tried to thank him graciously, wished him a Merry Christmas, and walked out of the store. On my way home, I was struck by how kind that really was, especially since that's something he could get in trouble for, and especially since I'm the one who should be desperately searching for ways I could help people out. I was blessed enough to not have to work on Christmas.

I'm selfish. I'm the scrooge. I'm the jack hole. An entire overcommercialized, in-your-face Christmas season has passed, and I still managed to nearly ignore the needs of others in a terrible frenzy of self-preservation. I desperately need to learn how to love better.