Work today was interesting. Many 'difficult' people came through the doors. Firstly there were people like me who wanted things we didn't have, never a good thing first thing on a Monday morning. Then there were many of the people I encountered over the counter - those who were 'difficult' because they were just so rude. The first person was ok, I'd had coffee and devotions and so could cope with them. The second and third ones I gritted my teeth and served them with a smile and pleasent manner. By the fourth and on I had decided (in my stubborn way) that I would be extra smiley, extra cheery, and really be 'difficult' back to them in their current mood!
But then there are the other 'difficult' people. The ones that are marginalised, or perhaps difficult to serve and so a burden, or perhaps just those who are mostly misunderstood. Such was the lady I served this afternoon. She's lovely, but a little excentric, and so is one of those 'difficult' people, and often I'm the
one left to serve her - which to me is actually a priviledge. Anyways, she comes in today and orders a cappuccino, which I make for her, taking time to make the chocolate sprinkles into the shape of a Christmas tree (it's great, wish I could make shapes in the coffee all the time!) which made her face light up. Getting her settled at a table the ladt decides she wants a photo of her and the Christmas tree coffee so we need to move to a new table with better light. That's when the accident happens - pot of hot boiling water all over the place - and the lovely lady in a tizzy over her 'stupidity'. That's when everyone looks and stares, not just because of the loud clatter, but because of what the lady said. Moving as quickly but as gently as I can I settle her, trying to reassure her that it won't take a moment for me to clear it up and really she's not stupid or a bother or anything of the sort. It really doesn't take long, but as I do this I hear all the things she calls herself - and my heart breaks. For what she says over herself is pure lies, yet things that she obviously believes. And so as I clear in my mind I'm praying against what she's saying, and speaking the counter to her speech out. In a few moments the mess is cleared up, she settled again and the photo has been captured.
But as I go back to work my devotions of the morning come back to mind - all about the power our words have, especially the words we speak over ourselves. How they have the power to bless and curse. How they affect how we feel and act. And I wondered who there was to correct this lady, to speak words of life over her and not death, so that in time she would be able to do the same over herself.
Not long after I finished, but by that time many people had commented on my patience with the lady. I don't think I was patient. I think I just didn't see her as the 'difficult' person others did. I wasn't patient but rather treated her as a fellow human person who just needed some kindness, warmth and understanding. Someone who could see she was special and had dignity and who wasn't stupid or a nusance. And as I made my way over to her as I left to tell her to have a happy and blessed Christmas, she smiled the largest smile I had seen all day. She wasn't one of those 'difficult' ones after all, not to me. But perhaps she exposed us as the 'difficult' ones, the ones not good at treating the other, those different to us, as actual people the same as we are. I'm glad she came in today, and I'm glad the chocolate Christmas tree made her smile, and I pray she has a Christmas in which she hears what God speaks over her. For God so loved the world (inculding those deemed as 'difficult') that He gave His only Son ...
(Oh and for those wondering ... the coffee pictured is not mine. If only I were that good! Gotten from here instead ... http://www.flickr.com/photos/busman/329561084/ ... but who knows what latte art I'll be creating after I get trained next year, lol!)
But then there are the other 'difficult' people. The ones that are marginalised, or perhaps difficult to serve and so a burden, or perhaps just those who are mostly misunderstood. Such was the lady I served this afternoon. She's lovely, but a little excentric, and so is one of those 'difficult' people, and often I'm the
one left to serve her - which to me is actually a priviledge. Anyways, she comes in today and orders a cappuccino, which I make for her, taking time to make the chocolate sprinkles into the shape of a Christmas tree (it's great, wish I could make shapes in the coffee all the time!) which made her face light up. Getting her settled at a table the ladt decides she wants a photo of her and the Christmas tree coffee so we need to move to a new table with better light. That's when the accident happens - pot of hot boiling water all over the place - and the lovely lady in a tizzy over her 'stupidity'. That's when everyone looks and stares, not just because of the loud clatter, but because of what the lady said. Moving as quickly but as gently as I can I settle her, trying to reassure her that it won't take a moment for me to clear it up and really she's not stupid or a bother or anything of the sort. It really doesn't take long, but as I do this I hear all the things she calls herself - and my heart breaks. For what she says over herself is pure lies, yet things that she obviously believes. And so as I clear in my mind I'm praying against what she's saying, and speaking the counter to her speech out. In a few moments the mess is cleared up, she settled again and the photo has been captured.But as I go back to work my devotions of the morning come back to mind - all about the power our words have, especially the words we speak over ourselves. How they have the power to bless and curse. How they affect how we feel and act. And I wondered who there was to correct this lady, to speak words of life over her and not death, so that in time she would be able to do the same over herself.
Not long after I finished, but by that time many people had commented on my patience with the lady. I don't think I was patient. I think I just didn't see her as the 'difficult' person others did. I wasn't patient but rather treated her as a fellow human person who just needed some kindness, warmth and understanding. Someone who could see she was special and had dignity and who wasn't stupid or a nusance. And as I made my way over to her as I left to tell her to have a happy and blessed Christmas, she smiled the largest smile I had seen all day. She wasn't one of those 'difficult' ones after all, not to me. But perhaps she exposed us as the 'difficult' ones, the ones not good at treating the other, those different to us, as actual people the same as we are. I'm glad she came in today, and I'm glad the chocolate Christmas tree made her smile, and I pray she has a Christmas in which she hears what God speaks over her. For God so loved the world (inculding those deemed as 'difficult') that He gave His only Son ...
(Oh and for those wondering ... the coffee pictured is not mine. If only I were that good! Gotten from here instead ... http://www.flickr.com/photos/busman/329561084/ ... but who knows what latte art I'll be creating after I get trained next year, lol!)
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