Respect for the elderly

One of the things I enjoy the most about my job is being able to help out elderly people with their mundane grocery shopping needs. I don’t know why, but I’ve always thought people who have lived that long deserve so much more respect than the younger generation tends to give them. They’ve lived through so much and (as far as I can tell) have a great deal of wisdom if kids would take the time to listen to them. I wish I were brave enough to just walk up to older people and ask them to tell me a story (it wouldn’t matter what the story was).

Anyway, on to the main topic. Today, I worked at the U-Scan machine. Most older people don’t like them because they’re technology and they’d rather have human interaction because it’s what they’re used to (and it’s a heck of a lot more reliable than some stupid computer that weighs what you’ve scanned). I was working on a rubber-band ball (irrelevant, but amusing nonetheless), and I noticed something “off” about the lady who was using one of the machines. She had an oxygen tank with her (in the cart), and she’d been having trouble breathing so she sat down on the bag scale. Immediately I went over to her and asked if she was okay.

She said she was fine, and then handed me a list and asked me to go pick up a few more things. This, my friends, is what I live for. I love helping people when I can. I happily agreed, told her it was no problem, and bounded off toward the salad dressing aisle before realizing I didn’t know which brand she wanted. I did a quick u-turn and asked her if she had any particular brand in mind, and she said she didn’t. I ended up getting her dressing and a roll of paper towels, as well as scanning her order for her, and I just felt so good about it. I think that’s what life is really about (at least for me). Just helping where I can, when I can, for those who need it.