Greetings!
Here is another incident.
It happened a few years after the 2001 9/11 Terrorist Attacks. My husband and I were no longer in the restaurant business.
We bought something from a store. When we opened it at home, we found it was defective. We went to the store to return the item. I lined up at the customer service counter. Quite some people were ahead of me.
Next to the customer service counter was a counter where people bought lottery tickets. Two women in the Middle East attire stood in front of the counter. A store employee was there, but she had her back towards them. She seemed to be busy rearranging something in front of her.
Two store employees (women) worked at the customer service counter. A customer brought with her many items to return, and one of the employees had been helping that customer since I lined up. Quite some time had gone by. I was finally the fourth in line. The female employee at the lottery counter still had her back towards the two Middle East women, but she was now talking to her two coworkers at the customer service counter. She told them she would never serve those two Middle East women. She called them names. Though she talked in a low voice, many of us heard what she said. Her coworkers at the service counter never responded to what she said. The two Middle East women had carried on a conversation in a soft voice among themselves while they waited. They did not seem to hear the store employee's racist talk about them.
I returned the item and got a refund. The two women still waited at the lottery counter. I decided it was time to buy a lottery ticket. I walked over, and lined up behind them. My husband said to me in Chinese, "What are you doing? You've already spent too much time waiting in line. Why do you want to buy a lottery ticket now? Don't you see how long they've (i.e. the two Middle East women) waited?" I smiled. I told him I just wanted to buy a ticket, and the wait would not be long.
As expected, one of the employees at the customer service counter soon came over. She took care of the customers ahead of me. When it was my turn, I looked at her with a joyful smile. I said, "Thank you!" She nodded at me with a big smile. We knew exactly why we were there.
In my heart, I held no ill feelings towards the store employee at the lottery counter. She was where she was. I lined up at the counter because I had faith that someone who was open-minded would come to help us.
Some people in a similar situation might choose to have a talk with the employee, or reported what happened to the store manager. They believed others would change if they pointed out he or she was wrong. From my own experiences, it was not necessary the case. Oftentimes, people only changed when they were ready to. It did not mean I would never speak up. I followed my heart's guidance, and sometimes I did speak up. (See my posts Part 2 - The Gathering and The Grand Prize and the Second Reading).
On that day, I chose to line up behind the two Middle East women. The employee from the customer service counter chose to come over to help us. The lottery counter employee was in this experience as she watched what went on. Each one of us was responsible for what we chose to do.
Many Awakened Ones have told us we create our own reality. When we focus on (or dwell in) hatred, we may live lifetimes in hatred. For me, my mother's love for me, the joy that my loved ones have brought into my life, the love and kindness that others have bestowed upon me, the beauty of nature, the love of the Divine, and the fun of life will always be with me wherever I am.
I appreciate our differences in appearance, culture, and race. How boring it would be if we all look alike and behave the same way!
Have a good weekend!
Love,
Q of D
No comments:
Post a Comment