I went to Walmart to pick up some groceries today. When I had everything I needed, I went to the checkout lane, and the cashier started ringing up my stuff.
I was off in my own little world, caught up in my own little self-pity party. It had been kind of a rough week for me. I wasn’t feeling too good about being me at that particular moment.
The cashier started making small talk. She asked if I was having a good Father’s Day. I replied that I was having an excellent Father’s Day, thank you (a little white lie, since actually I was busy thinking about how hard my life was).
She asked me if I was a father, and I smiled and said, “No, but I have one.” She smiled back and replied, “I think we all do.” I said, “Yes, I guess it tends to work that way.”
There was a moment of silence, while she continued ringing up my groceries.
Then I asked her, “How about you, do you have any children?”
And she said, “Well, yes, we had three, but they are in Heaven now.”
This woman was about 25 years old, and she had already buried three children.
No matter how much you might be thinking your current situation sucks, the person standing next to you is probably going through a tough time of their own, too.
And in fact, theirs might be worse than yours.