A little paper, went a long way

It's no secret that I have a certain affinity for McDonalds Coke. Not only do I LOVE Coke, but McDonalds does it like no one else. I have recently switched to Diet and it is satisfying in re. to weight loss, but there is nothing like the sweet slurp of the real thing. I had a terrible night's sleep (Marc is away) and today it is pretty snowy and my baby has a cold and has had three teeth break through this week. Mama decided to go for the real deal this morning.

The cashier who is at the McDonalds drive-thru most mornings (I wish I knew her name, but she always has a fleece on) is a young lady who looks sad, even troubled. She is never rude. Her voice on the speaker is actually really nice and doesn't always go with the person you see when you drive up to pay. She has died her hair jet black and it is cut short and unstyled; it is very masculine looking. She always has on earrings...but they are diamond 9mm hand gun earrings. I often wonder as I pay, what her life is like. Who is she? Who makes hand gun earrings? Why did she buy them and why does she wear them every single day? What do they mean to her? What is her real hair color? Why does she hid her feminity?

Today as I drove up, I paid in change and she asked if I wanted a reciept. I don't know that she's ever asked me that before. I replied, "Yes, because my daughters school collects them." She then not only handed me my reciept but handed me a large stack of reciepts, assumedly from previous patrons who didn't want them.

I cannot tell you how much this small guesture touched me. One could say it was no big deal, but I was there; I can tell you it was. The smile on her face as she handed me the stack of reciepts is etched into my memory. Her usually downtrodden face was aglow. She was offering me the gift of kindness and generosity. It wasn't just about the reciepts. Her face offered me a glimpse into her beautiful heart that she for some reason keeps masked behind a wall of black and hand gun earrings. For a moment, I saw the women God created and let me tell you she is beautiful!

So often I think I have to do BIG meaningful things to touch the lives of others, but today a women gave me what many would think was garbage. She not only probably gave me enough reciepts for a few classroom books (McD's gives schools supplies for reciepts), she showed me that she valued what I did and it really, really touched my heart. I can only hope and pray that somehow God will use my smile and my affinity for Cokes and collecting reciepts to somehow touch hers.