By Dr. James L. Snyder
After about two months in recovery mode, I had an opportunity to go to the neighborhood Publix. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a store, and I was happy to get out of the house and give The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage a break.
While walking around, I noticed everybody seemed very sad. It looked like everybody was worried about something and had no solution.
There is something about me that makes me want to bring a smile to someone who is sad. I’m not always successful, but at least I try.
Walking around, I tried to think of what I could do to make somebody smile.
Maybe I could do something to make at least one person smile. I might not have a good prank, but how do I know until I try?
I approached an older couple pushing a cart and said, “Pardon me, do you know who I am?”
They both looked at me a little confused and shook their heads. The woman said, “No, I don’t know who you are.”
I smiled at them and replied, “That’s great. I thought I was the only one who didn’t know who I was. Thank you.”
As I walked away, I heard them giggle and laugh. I heard the man say, “He sure was crazy.” Then they laughed some more.
I was satisfied that I at least got someone to laugh. If you go through a whole day without laughing, you have wasted that day.
There are so many things that I laugh about that I rarely have a day or an hour in which I am not laughing at something or someone. I don’t know how many people laugh at me, but I hope there are some.
I also noticed the store staff seemed rather stressed. The store was overly crowded with customers, and particularly, the people at the checkout counter seemed rather stressed.
I got what I was shopping for, went up to the checkout counter, and stood in line for several minutes, waiting for those in front of me to get fully processed. As I was waiting
there, I was trying to think of what I could do to brighten up that young lady behind the checkout counter, who seemed quite stressed.
Then, an idea came to me. I laughed as I thought of it, and I didn’t know if it was a good joke, but you never know until you process it, and I was in the processing mood at the time.
I grinned as I waited in line, and finally, my turn came. I looked at the lady behind the register and said, “There was a lady in the back of the store that told me if I mentioned how nice you look today, you could give me a discount.” Then I smiled, the biggest smile I had all day.
Looking at me, she said, “What?”
I knew she was under stress, so I repeated it to her and asked her what kind of discount I would get.
At first, she didn’t know what to do and looked over her shoulder to see if anybody was watching her. Then she finally looked at me and said, “Sir, I’m new here and have never heard of that discount before, and I do not believe that I can do it for you today. I’m so sorry for the misunderstanding.” Then, much to my surprise, she smiled. After all, that’s all I wanted.
I thanked her for her service, smiled, and told her to have a great day.
As I walked out, I could hear some customers behind me giggling. They were talking, but I couldn’t understand what they were saying. At least I got a couple of people to smile.
Driving home from the store, the traffic was rather congested. People were going home from work, and many were not very patient. There was a lot of horn blowing and some old guys screaming. I’m unsure how that solved their problem, but I guess they had no other option. They must have had a hard day at work.
I just smiled as they drove by, not knowing their story. Why can’t people just learn how to smile? I looked at all of them as they went by and smiled as best I could.
A couple of drivers looked a little religious in my mind. I’m unsure what they were yelling at me, but one person pointed me to heaven. I smiled and was very appreciative. I nodded, affirming that I was planning to go to heaven. I noticed, though, that, being as religious as he was, he got his fingers mixed up and used the wrong finger to point to heaven.
Instead of being offended, I just smiled and even got to the point of laughing.
My day was successful because I made about five people laugh and several others smile. That makes for a great day.
I couldn’t help but think of one of my favorite Bible verses. “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones” (Proverbs 17:22).
Laughter is the best medicine we could possibly have. And, we never run out of this medicine no matter our circumstances. My goal is to share my medicine with as many people as possible.
Dr. James L. Snyder lives in Ocala, FL with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. Telephone 1-352-216-3025, e-mail jamessnyder51@gmail.com, website www.jamessnyderministries.com