Working at Walmart

When is the last time you considered the person working at Walmart? When you needed something? When something went wrong? When something went right? Never? Notice the primary question specifies person rather than people. Each person working at Walmart is unique. While we may be quick to judge the person working at Walmart by appearance or perhaps performance, a routine encounter with the person working at Walmart will not accurately tell the story of the person working at Walmart. The saying "Don't judge a book by its cover" certainly rings true. Each person working at Walmart has a unique story. Mom spent the last fifteen years of her life working at Walmart. The last four years after dual diagnoses of cancer. Through multiple surgeries, radiation, and chemotherapy, mom continued on working at Walmart. Surgery, recovery from surgery, and hospitalization were the only things that took her name off the work schedule. The regular customers may have noticed her frame was more slight, her hair more gray and thinning, but if you didn't know, you didn't know. You didn't know that as you stepped up to the register only moments before she had clocked back in after an extended lunch break for radiation treatment. You didn't know that when she got home that evening she would spend time hooked up to a machine for therapy. You didn't know there was a good chance she wouldn't sleep well, if at all, that night. You didn't know that another surgery was coming up soon. You didn't know that her family's hearts were breaking because they did know. You didn't know because she clocked in every day and did her job the best she could. In the later years, a little slower than before but with a smile on her face. You didn't know because though her life was coming to an end her faith in God was never ending. When mom passed away, one of the most interesting aspects was other people's expectations of my grief. What they didn't know is that I had come to accept her death well before it happened. That certainly did not mean that I liked it or that I was not sad, but simply that because of mom's faith, and mine, I was able to say, "It is well." As you go about each day, whether you find yourself at Walmart or not, wherever you find yourself, take time to consider each person you encounter. Remember each person has a unique story. We don't know what chapter each person is in or what the previous or future chapters may hold. Be patient and be gracious. Happy birthday mom!