Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Bravery

First I want to post about what I gave away today.
I bought a cute little mug that came with cookies for a wonderful lady in our church. Most of you know our little church is going through some struggles right now and she has just stepped up and out of her comfort zone. She has organized dinners for both fall and thanksgiving and is now in the process of preparing a Christmas Eve service. I put it in a gift bag, got a nice thank you card and without signing it, set it on the back table in the foyer for her to find.
I want to try for the most part to be secretive about what I am doing. But all of you out there in Blog land are in on my little secret.
Now back to the title of today's post.
Have you ever done something completely out of character? So out of character that you feel like you are watching a movie and not actually doing this thing?
I need to first let you all know that even though I live in a tiny little hick town with only one red light at the one and only major cross roads, I drive about 20 miles to work in an area that I would never go into after dark. It is very near Youngstown, OH. Now if you have never heard of Youngstown, OH I will tell you this fact I just looked up: The US average crime rate is 320.9, Youngstown's was 651.9 for 2007.
So when I was working full-time, I would mostly take my lunch with me or run through the drive thru, never ever getting out of my car. Ever!
Today they asked me to work a full day since the other girl took a vacation day. So at lunch I decided to run through McDonalds. When I go there the drive-thru line was almost out to the road. I parked the car and went in. The line was still a little long in there, but not as bad. The computer system had gone down and they were just trying to catch everything back up.
There was a bunch of people to the side waiting for their orders and as food would get done, they would get theirs and leave. One guy was skipped over a few times as his food took a little longer than the other peoples.
All of the sudden he walks up to the counter and starts cussing out the girls behind the counter about how other people are getting their food and he isn't. And it wasn't nice cussing either, it was the Bad, Bad words.
There were also a lot of older people in line (Social Security lunch day I guess). So after he dropped the bomb for about the tenth time and started on the mega-bomb, I said out loud for all to hear: "Can you please watch your mouth?"
Believe me, I think he was just as shocked as I was when he turned around and saw this white chick telling him how to act. He told me it couldn't watch his mouth and mumble something. Another customer behind me replied to him that he was being ignorant. He mumbled a few more things, but toned it down, the counter girl handed him his food and he stormed out eyeing me and the other guy who spoke up.
I placed my order, the counter girl apologized to all of the people still in the restaurant. I never thought another thing of it, until I was walking out of the door. How was I going to get to my car across the lot? All of the sudden I was terrified as I remembered I was in Youngstown instead of Smalltown, USA.
Obviously I made it to my car, back to the office and home without a problem. But even now I am a little shaken at what I did. I swear it was like a movie I was watching, not something I did.
And before you ask, no I have not seen "The Blindside" yet. If you have, you'll know what I am referring to.
Ok, enough babbling for one day. Night!
Stacy

4 comments:

Lena said...

First, I really love the giving thing & love that your keeping it a secret that your the gift giver. It has to be such a blessing to the person receiving the gift. Knowing that so one is thinking of them.
Second.... I can't believe that you spoke up in that situation. I would have been shaking in my boots. .... Your amazing.

Becca said...

I am glad that you are doing that. I am not surprised that you spoke up for the group. Someone had to!

Crystal said...

Good for you! I have to say, a few years ago, I would never have imagine doing something like that, but being a mom awakened something in me...example? The hubs and I travelled to see my parents with our new 1 month old daughter (it's been a few years). Before leaving town, we needed to stop and get gas. While the hubs was filling the tank, I went inside to grab some snacks, drinks,etc. There was only one person working and the guy in front of me kept finding things for this poor lady to ring up. By the time it was my turn there were several people behind me, but everyone was being patient. As she was ringing up my drinks & snacks, a HUGE truck driver walked in and demanded the employees attention to get directions. She was obviously busy and told him she would be with him in a moment, but a guy towards the end of the line (who looked foreign but spoke excellent english) piped up to help give directions. This huge man, told him "shut the f--k up, I don't take directions from foreigners," and then proceeded to be more forceful in getting the employees attention. I had had enough, so, little old 5'3" 105 lb me turned to him and said, "Knock it off. There is no reason to use foul language when someone is just trying to help you. Everyone here has been waiting in line patiently and now you have to as well." He was silent but glared at me as I walked past him, out the door. I walked calmly to the car (barely) and then told my husband to get us the heck out of there. He scared the tar out of me! But, the bottom line is, he was being ignorant, racist, and impatient and there was no reason for it.

I am so glad you spoke up, but am even more glad you made it home safely. There is just no telling what people will do these days.

Chris said...

Good for you on both counts, Stacy!