Today I went to buy some work slacks because I unknowingly left alot of my work clothes back in New Orleans, and while I was in line to buy a shirt at one store, American Eagle, I wasn't sure if an older couple of women in front of me was in line, and while trying to get one's attention was particularly grossed out by one older lady asking the other about some pretty youthful AE female underwear, then finally got the attention of the answering lady to turn around so I could ask her if she was in line or not. As she turned around, it was apparent this poor older lady had been horribly, horribly, disfigured - and couldn't really make proper speech aside from some incoherent sounds. I felt very confused about what reaction to have - quickly I flipped through my inner emotional rolodex and decided looking her in the face too directly might make her feel self-conscious, taking an obvious look away would appear too calculated and rude, and settled on partial eye contact and partial attention on nearby objects until she finished saying what she was trying to say. The problem was, she kept trying to say something about the cast on my foot, or that she had been on crutches, which I could only understand because she kept pointing down at my foot, but I couldn't get a word of what she was trying to say, so I decided to just smile and say "Ohhh, okay!" This made her quite visibly happy, which makes me feel very glad - this poor woman probably doesn't receive any facial or verbal acknowledgement from other human beings because of her condition, but if just saying "Oh, okay!" and giving a direct smile was enough to make her day, it sure makes me feel great too.
I felt great empathy for her, but most of all, I feel so lucky/grateful for the life that I have.
No comments:
Post a Comment