Be The One Who Picks Up The Shirt

Dear Kids,

I went "after Christmas" shopping on Wednesday. It was like Christmas fever all over again, there were tons of people out gathering their years worth of birthday presents (at least, that is one of the reasons why I go! ha! You can't miss out on legos being 50%-70% off!).

Anyway, I finished my lego shopping and went to a nice long line, waiting to be checked out. While I was watching everyone around me I saw an interesting thing. About 40 feet away from where I was there was a shirt that had fallen on the ground in the middle of the walkway. It was blocking like 3/4 of the walkway. I watched as one person after another went around this shirt! They were dodging it like it had an infectious disease; or hopping over it, or stretching as far as they could with their legs to get around it. You get the picture. The funny thing was... it was causing a traffic jam. This shirt that had fallen in the aisle. Such a simple thing, yet it was causing such an issue.

The fascinating thing was that NO ONE took the time (one minute TOPS) to just bend over and pick up the shirt and put it back on the rack. I am not exaggerating when I say that I watched this phenomenon go on for over seven minutes. This shirt on the ground received disapproving looks, scowls, frustrating sighs, and a host of other emotions while it was just laying there on the ground.

There is a saying that I hear one of my sisters say all the time to her kids (and, of course, it's rubbed off on me), "SEE A NEED, FILL A NEED!". How hard is it to just bend over and pick up the shirt?

"Oh no! Not me!"
"Someone will come by and pick that up eventually."
"That is the employees job, not mine."
"Don't step on the shirt Jhonny! It will get it dirty!"
"I can't believe someone dropped that and didn't pick it up!"

I'm sure there are 100's of reasons why people didn't pick up the shirt, one of them being the fact that they just didn't take the time to notice and fill the need.

So... to finish the story. Eventually, someone did pick up the shirt. Me. I left the line I was in, went and picked it up and put it on the rack, then went back in line (the lady behind me saved my spot, yay!). What an interesting small study it was for me to watch such a simple thing, yet remember the lesson that it was teaching me, and anyone who took the time to notice.

Now, please don't get me wrong, I have stepped over "shirts" in aisles before too (figuratively speaking). There have been plenty of times in my lifetime when I have been lazy, dropped something, didn't pick it up, left out the shopping cart, etc. But since becoming older and wiser, taking the lazy way out is something that I don't do anymore when I see an issue. See a need, fill a need has become mantra of mine for years. What goes around comes around is a true principle. Go the extra mile, always. Be the first one to act. Lead by example first. Be the one who picks up the shirt.

If you live this way, you will never regret it, and you will help put smiles on people's faces along the way. Someone who sees you picking up the shirt will remember... and maybe they will be the first person who will pick up the shirt in the next store they go to.

I love you,

Your Mom