Lemon
I passed a woman in the grocery store today and nearly kept on walking, head down as per usual*. She was clearly in need of some help, but other shoppers were in the aisle around her by the time I got there, and they hadn’t done anything, so naturally I was a little suspicious.
I looked at her and she stared back at me, and then motioned at the top shelf she clearly couldn’t reach. “Do you need help?” She didn’t answer. Instead, we had one of those body language conversations, with the shushing of arms and the pointing of fingers. It wasn’t until I heard her reticent voice that I finally understood she was deaf and dumb, and looking for lemon extract.
I almost recoiled from her the way I would from the people who try to force donation cards into your hands on the street. But we pressed on, her shouting and drawing stares across the aisle, and me rooting around for lemon extract above my head.
Eventually I had to give up and ask a stock guy’s help, and as I transferred the work to him, she smiled and mouthed THANK YOU, looking up at me from strikingly sincere eyes.
*We (New Yorkers) have to go about our business this way. It’s safest and surest, and sure as hell easiest. But sometimes you get a vibe and it’s on you to help. Even if it doesn’t work out in your favor — even if “something happens” — your fellow man needs you, so try to keep an open mind.
——-
Making Lemonade
How often do you need help, but don’t ask? How often do you answer someone else’s need? It can be scary to ask and scary to give, but both are worthwhile. If help is offered in the right way, people seldom turn it down.
