Attention Walmart Shoppers

Tensions are running high due to the uncertainty we are all experiencing. It's been a rough three weeks for many of us, including me. We are a planet on lockdown, housebound for the first time in our personal history. It's different, unsettling and unnerving. We don't know if this will be life-changing too.

For the sake of transparency, I will use myself as an example of unusual behaviors during this quarantine. I've been housebound for over three weeks, haven't seen my grandson in a month, haven't eaten sugar in a week and have spent no time with my husband. I can see my real nails for the first time in a decade and I have over an inch of roots growth in my blonde hair.

I stand firmly on these factors as the reason I came very close to getting into a fight with a woman in the checkout line at Walmart today. (Yes, Walmart...) How cliche' is this? Just sayin', it's a good thing she was observing the six-foot rule.

Everything appeared normal when a woman, checking out in front of me, became hysterical. She began harassing me to move back further than the six-foot line by throwing her arms up in the air to make her point. My hair was covered, I had on gloves and I had a mask on. Understanding that her unhinged behavior had nothing to do with me, I gave her grace. Smiling from behind my mask, I willingly moved back three more feet.

Like a bloodhound on a scent, she unleashed her frustration on me to move back further. That is the exact moment, in my housebound mind, she crossed an invisible line. I firmly brought it to her attention that her hair was flying around like a banshee, she had on flip-flops and was not wearing gloves. Most concerning was that she wasn't wearing a mask. There was no protection from her verbal spewing. It could easily reach others in a thirty-foot radius - who, by this time, were all staring at us!

I have not behaved like that since...well, I don't remember. Maybe never. Growing up, my mother would say, "That's not pretty," about this type of behavior. In the deep south, it was all about being pretty in one way or another. Your looks, actions and the intent behind constant smiles were as important as your salvation.

After the verbal sparring between the two of us, the woman got control of herself to pay for her items and leave the store. I then moved up in the line to pay for my groceries, thankful for my background in psychology had taught me "people do things for their own reasons, not for mine."

As I walked out of the store, I was overcome with concern about the pressures and hardships the COVID19 pandemic is causing many people. Housebound, feeding children, paying the rent with little or no money coming in. It must be terrifying to all who are affected by this virus in different ways.

It's essential to be mindful that we've all stepped into the Twilight Zone together.

Give yourself and others grace.

I pray you and your family have safe passage through this unprecedented time. 

Jinger, "The Masked American"