This past week I was at Target looking at some clothes. As a mom, you obviously have your baby with you most of the time in your daily life—and this of course includes things like the dressing room. Understandably, it can be hard to juggle everything while you’re shopping—your purse, the cart, the baby, the clothes, the fountain drink I got when I arrived, etc. And this time it was as difficult as it sounds!
So after picking out some clothes I made my way over to the fitting rooms and at this particular Target there are two family fitting rooms and about 15 more regular stalls. So I get the tag from the Target worker and lo and behold, both of the family fitting rooms are being used and basically all the rest are empty. I was trying my best to wait patiently and after a few minutes one of the stalls became available, and it was a woman that was all by herself using it! I was a little perturbed by this but just let it go (obviously my mentioning it isn't evidence of any lingering resentment...).
But like usual, the sizes I got were wrong, so I had to exchange and return back to the fitting rooms. Once again, both stalls were being used and all the rest were empty. So this time I waited, but not so patiently. Once one became available I started moving my big load of baby and cart toward the fitting room, but as I was making my way—I thought, obviously toward the family stall, this teenage girl passed me and went right into the family stall and locked the door.
Luckily and to my relief, the Target worker saw this happen and went to my defense and knocked on the door and demanded that the girl move to a different stall (vindicated—Yes!!).
I was so grateful that this worker could see my dismay and stood up for me. And then I was irritated by these girls that were so egocentric that I was invisible to them. I couldn’t believe that they were so self-absorbed that they didn't even notice me, and had no thought of someone else’s needs.
But then I reflected on myself. I know that prior to having kids and while shopping alone, I have used these very such stalls. I am mortified to think that a mother and child could have been waiting to use the stall that I so selfishly was using. And I pray that this never happened—but I fear that it has and that I caused grief to another. And I am only thinking about this one area of fitting rooms. Upon further introspection I wonder in how many other arenas have I selfishly ignored others and went about my business?
I hope that I can be more courteous of others and that I will take a look around me at other people’s needs. I hope that not only can I avoid being a burden, but that I can even be a helping hand to another.
