Rule of Crazy

You’ve no doubt heard of the “rule of thumb”, right?  It’s the standard operating procedure…the way things are done…what you can expect.  Well, in my family (meaning my mother/father/brother/sister), we operate by the rule of crazy.  It’s what is to be expected.  If there is a verbose, borderline type person around, someone in my family will attract their attention (unknowingly, of course).  They will say anything to us, from their inappropriate overshare about family history or how they have the same shoes as we do, except they wear them on their hands.   For me, it has gotten to the point where I look at people suspiciously when they say a friendly “Hello” to me in the grocery store.

So when an older gentleman approached my children and I in the Piggly Wiggly, I shot him a wary glance.  Then when he asked me if he could give my children something, I immediately answered in a sarcastic tone, “Like what?”  The man seemed taken aback and wasn’t holding a mysterious bag of candy or anything, so I straightened up and acted like my mother had taught me some manners.  I politely said, “Sure that would be real nice.”  And the man produced from his wallet two crisp-from-the-bank two dollar bills.  He asked my son if he had ever seen a two dollar bill and my son said “Yes, I already have one.”  (His mother is still working on teaching him some manners…*cough*)  The man gave both kids a bill and told them to buy themselves a treat or help me pay for the groceries, he didn’t care which, he just wanted them to have something.  He looked up at me (didn’t I mention that the poor gentleman was in an electric cart?) and said, “They are real good kids.”  I thanked him and the kids did the same and I walked away feeling chagrined. 

We live in such a jaded world and most days it tends to take me down with it.  Even if I’m just taking the offensive position, I often expect the worst of people.  I hope I don’t pass that along to my children.  I want them to always see what’s truly good in people and take the rest with a grain of salt. 

“Never speak harshly to an older man, but appeal to him respectfully as you would to your own father. Talk to younger men as you would to your own brothers.  Treat older women as you would your mother, and treat younger women with all purity as you would your own sisters…This is something that pleases God.”  1 Timothy 5:1-2,4