I don't cry very often anymore. I mean, sure, I was a passionate, moody, stormy adolescent and I cried all the time as a teenager. Usually when I cried then, I did it in the bathroom looking at myself sadly in the mirror, because the tears really made my eyes pop. I believe I thought I actually was prettier when I was crying than any other way, which is probably good, since a good 70% of my adolescence was probably spent crying in the bathroom. Nothing like a little self-esteem!
But these days, I just don't see much to cry about. My laundry pile will still be just as big whether I cry about it or not. My dishes still have to be done whether I cry about it or not. I just don't have the energy to give to a good cry.
But today I went and took my kids to McDonald's because our McDonald's has kids' meals for a dollar on Monday nights, and hey, why not? (Don't mention childhood obesity, or the inhumane slaughtering of cattle or anything, please)
The line around the McDonald's was forever long, you have to circle around and then come at it from the right angle. A lady pulled in from the other direction and I let her in ahead of me, which was no big deal, because our McDonald's is an assembly line and they move us through fast.
So I order my kids' meals and pull forward to the first window and hold out my card to pay.
"I don't need that," the guy says, "The lady in front of you just paid for you. She said to thank you for letting her in."
And just like that, I was in tears. How simply lovely.
I felt kinder all day.
Monday, April 6, 2009
The Loveliest Thing
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14 comments:
I absolutely LOVE stories like this! Thanks for sharing :)
Sweet Story! It's like Christmas all year.
What a nice story. Admist the screaming from my children I can hear RIGHT NOW, this brought me to tears, too. On second thought, maybe it IS the kids crying after all.
BTW, how do I get MY McDonald's to give out such a good deal?! I'm totally in to feeding my kids all kinds of processed foods if it brings peace for just an hour.
How sweet and wonderful. It reminds me that I could be a little nicer on the roads.
1. That's a great story.
2. You thought crying made your eyes pop? You've just captured the narcissism of teen girls perfectly. I love it. Because, um, I thought the same thing.
I'm so glad you're back. Seriously - I have tears from laughing so hard (I hate when I read posts like this because I usually think it's a bunch of crap, but I mean it...you are my favorite blogger). Don't take that compliment with a grain of salt either; I neglect my family quite a bit these days and I have plenty of bloggers to choose from.
Kellie
Now I am craving McD's- well, their fries anyway.
One of life's best little surprizes!
Great story! Thanks for sharing!
So pretty much McDonald's is a bastion of American goodness and wholesomeness.
Thanks for the ray of sunshine.
Hides, what a great story. I'm honestly inspired to do something besides look at blogs and read. I will have to work on that tomorrow. On your kid rock poll. I am appalled with you. He is just so sad and gross looking. I side with Rhett. Tell him I say hey.
Fabulous!
I thought I was the only teenage mirror-cryer! But for me it was the full-length mirror in my bedroom - I`d sit cross-legged in front of it and bawl.
Love the way you craft your blogs.
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