Post Office Kindness
A few days ago I had to take Carter to the post office to renew his passport. He’s leaving on a mission trip in a few weeks, and I’ve been putting this task off. Yes, I know you should book appointments well in advance of travel, but this has just fallen through the cracks. But today, April 15 was our appointment day. As expected, due to being Tax Day, the post office was crowded. We walked up to the booth and were told abruptly we would need to wait in the long line. I stated I had an appointment, and the lady behind the counter curtly told us to wait to the side, and that she would be with us in a few minutes.
When it was finally our turn, we pulled all our documents out and started the process. I informed the lady that we would need to expedite everything on this application. She then said, “I wish you the best, but I’m not sure if you’ve heard of this thing called DOGE”. I sighed and said I had as I was a federal employee as well. We both lamented the fact of how we federal workers were being treated, but now that we had that connection, her mood changed, and she seemed to be much more friendly and even shared a few laughs with us. A few minutes later, we were done and out the door, praying that Carter’s passport would arrive in 3–4 weeks.
This post office employee was under a lot of pressure today due to Tax Day chaos, short staffing, grumpy customers, and looming in her head for the past month has been DOGE. (Your political beliefs about the current administration aside, I think we can all agree that federal employees have come under massive amounts of stress and worry in the past few months.) I wanted to snap back when we first arrived, but I kept my cool and let her do her job. Treating her with kindness and patience paid off, and I like to think was a small bright spot in her day.
Why do I share this story? It’s one of the reasons I started this blog. I need a place to process my thoughts and a place to remind myself of certain truths. Here is what the above story challenged me to do more of. Be Kind. This is hard for me to do consistently. I fail more than I succeed here. So I’m preaching more to myself than you. I’ll need this reminder again tomorrow, and the next day as well.
We are all under so much stress and keep most of our real selves and lives hidden from others. If we were honest with each other, we would all agree life is tough. Even if you are not going through a trial right now, good news, one is just around the corner! We all need each other to get through the day. Let’s all make an effort to be more kind. Whether it’s our spouse, kids, co-workers, fast food worker, Amazon delivery guy, the person who cuts us off in traffic, the teacher we don’t get along with, the doctor's office receptionist, and everyone else in between, let’s give each other some grace and show kindness.