I’m wandering up and down the mayonnaise aisle when I hear a little peep behind me.
“Excuse me, dear,” is what the peep sounded like.
I looked around, and finally spot a tiny old lady down near the salad dressings. She’s pointing.
“Could you please help me and reach that olive oil?” she asked nervously.
Of course I could, and did so. “Anything else?” I said, handing her the bottle.
“How much is that marinade?” she wants to know, so we check that out, decide no, it’s not for her.
“What else?” I venture. “Need sugar, toilet paper, bacon? How about a little extra cash?” I’m smiling, kidding her, and trying to put her at ease, but she falters a little, confused.
I’ve gone too far, in can see it on her face. Now she would just like me to go away. It’s easy to cross the line, intrude, forget about somebody else’s feelings — even when you’re trying to do something nice. It’s not like I did anything horrible, but today, I forgot that.
Don’t overdo: just enough is just enough.
Erin, I love your story. And, I am the king of Foot-In-Mouth stickers, so when you say you might have stepped over the line, you were speaking directly to me. You saw how it registered. What’s worse to me is when the other laughs, and chats on and on afterward, and then you hear a week later from the lips of another person how the other was offended or deeply hurt. Yes, I’m glad you shared this incident with me.
I think the premise of the ONE GOOD DEED project gets me a little overexcited at times, Jay. I see someone I can help, and they don’t have a choice!
OK, so I totally laughed at your comment, but I see the flip side, too. Talk about your fine line; it’s SO hard to know when humor could turn into something not-so-funny to someone. Thanks for the reminder to filter!!!
She was about 108, Barbara, and frankly, not everybody gets my humor!