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Candy for Strangers
He approached me with a
big grin radiating from beneath his baseball cap. “Hi!” he exclaimed, “Do you remember me?” Caught in
the dilemma of remembering the face but not the name, I hedged, “Sure I remember you, but help me with how we met!”
With
only a flicker of disappointment, “Bob” re-introduced himself as someone I had assisted a few days earlier. With
that little hint, I instantly remembered our successful search for “The Ink Spots Greatest Hits” CD. Bob and I chatted
for a while, but I continued to work as we talked. Bob asked me if I had received my reward for helping him. Puzzled, and
instantly on guard, I asked what he meant. He reached into his windbreaker pocket and pulled out several hard candies. With
peppermints, butterscotch, and sugar-free hard candies from which to choose, Bob insisted on rewarding me for being nice to
him. Making a selection of butterscotch, I thanked him and continued our chat for a few minutes more.
Since that encounter,
Bob and I have several chats a week, and he always pulls a few hard candies from his jacket pocket for me before he leaves.
I always say a prayer for Bob as I unwrap a candy and indulge my sweet tooth.
In over twenty years of working in retail,
I’ve never known a store that didn’t have a “Bob” or his female counterpart. Retired, lonely, and perhaps
widowed, their daily trip to their favorite retail store is a highlight of their day.
They have their favorite clerks;
faces they can depend on to have a smile and kind word for them. The store associates become the link beyond their lonely
world. We hear of ailments, of illnesses and deaths of spouses, and learning to cope with the solitude after a spouse dies.
We learn all about the lives of their children, and the antics of grandchildren. We learn their favorite foods, their favorite
authors, and their musical preferences. We become their extended family. They depend upon seeing us at our work stations on
our appointed days.
At what point in life does one rely upon offering candy to strangers in exchange for a smile, a
kind word, or a moment of someone’s time? The generation that saw this country through war, the civil rights movement,
and dramatic social changes deserves our utmost respect and a moment of our time.
Leviticus 19:32 instructs us to “Rise
in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God.” In Job 12:12, Job asks, “Is not
wisdom found in the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?”
The elderly have many years of life experiences
to share. Most are elated to share their life’s joys and triumphs. The roads of life they have traveled, and the experiences
gathered along the way, are a mother lode of wisdom. That wisdom can often assist us in putting our own challenges and problems
into perspective.
Every elderly person I have ever befriended has given me far more that I could ever give back to them.
As
busy as our lives are, as over committed and fatigued as we allow ourselves to become, let us pledge to do honor to our elderly
in any way we can. An occasional phone call, a cheerful note in the mail, a chat across the fence, a shared meal, a small
remembrance on a holiday- - so little can mean so much to a senior citizen, and your life will be enriched by the experience.
Blessings,
Barb
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