The toothless employee
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I went to Dollar Tree today to buy some seeds. We are going to try and plant a garden this year and with spring knocking on the door here in West Virginia, we wanted to start preparing.
How would you describe a Dollar Tree employee? For my British friends, Dollar Tree is the American equivalent of Poundland.
Employees at these types of establishment are usually a little rough round the edges. Hygiene, education and social skills can often be lacking. Today I am pretty sure several teeth were too.
But as I stood observing the toothless woman in her late fifties donning an upper lip stud piercing, I had this thought return to my mind, “She is somebodies daughter.”
That employee that could be so easy for society to mock and disregard because of her lowly appearance and economic status came into this world as precious and pure as anyone else.
Whilst I am a staunch advocate of personal accountability and responsibility, I also acknowledge that whilst we all enter this world innocent and full of potential, not all of us are born into fortunate or idyllic circumstances.
So what are we to think and say when we meet people whose lives seem so foreign and even degenerate to our own? we certainly should not condone every and any behavior, but we ought to extend as much tolerance, understanding and kindness as we can.
As Christians we proclaim that we are all children of God. That means that though this woman had her obvious challenges and rough edges, she was no more or less important than I was. Sometimes I think it’s easy for us to elevate ourselves because of my bank balance, education, social class or appearance.
I personally find it helpful to consider that had I been born and raised under different circumstances, I too could have been the toothless dollar store employee with limited social skills.
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