"Not Now, Honey. Mommy Has to Blog."

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Adrenaline.”

26 Jan 2012 1 Comment

by "Not now, honey. Mommy has to Blog." in "Stuff"

Today, after I picked up my youngest daughter from preschool, we headed to the local grocery store on the way home to pick up a few things. I scored a parking space right out front by the main entrance. Oh, how I love when that happens.

Of course, “a few things” ended up turning into a grocery-cart-full, as is often the case when I carelessly leave my list behind.

As I wheeled the full carriage out to my car which, thankfully, was only a few feet away, I pressed the button on my keychain that automatically opens the back gate of my minivan. As the door rose up slowly, I noticed a strange man looking at me, walking in my general direction, a few car rows over. I figured he had just parked his car and was walking into the store.

As he got closer, I saw that instead of choosing to walk in the wide open lane next to him, he seemed to zigzag his way through the cars towards me. He was looking right at me. I kept my eye on him and kept walking purposefully. But then it seemed like he was honing in on me as if he had a purpose. So I braced myself (as my Queens, NY-bred husband has ingrained in me) and grabbed tightly to my purse while my other arm robotically pushed and held my daughter firmly behind me. My heart started to thump out of my chest. A woman was right next to me loading her car and I caught her worried gaze. He walked right over to me and stood in front of my cart. I heard myself say in an extremely loud yet-trying-to-stay-calm-voice, “CAN I HELP YOU?” He smiled at me and then said, “No. I’m here to help YOU!” He then took my cart and brought it over to my open trunk and proceeded to load all my groceries in the car for me.

I stood there, scratching my head, mystified.

I felt myself slowly release the death-vice grip I had on my daughter. (I’m sure she was relieved judging by the color returning to her face.) The woman next to me smiled at me in relief, and rolled her eyes as if to say, “That was close!”

I said to him in confusion, “Um…do you work here?” And he replied, “Nope.”

Just then, I see my older daughter’s school principal walk over to me as he was exiting the grocery store, picking up lunch after a meeting.  He came over to say hello and instant relief washed over me as I immediately tried to involve him in the situation by grabbing his arm and pulling him over to the back of my car to meet this new acquaintance.

(Truthfully, I also wanted to get his “take.”)

I said loudly in front of them both, “Look, Mr. Williams! Look at this man! He is a COMPLETE STRANGER and he is loading all my groceries! Can you believe THAT?!!” He looked at the man and smiled. The man smiled back. Mr. Williams said, “Well, it’s because you are so nice!” Then he made his goodbye and left.

The cart was now emptied and the man backed up in reverse so I could lower the trunk. He started to leave and head toward the grocery store.

I called after him; “Um….Thank you!” He waved pleasantly as he maneuvered his newly-adopted carriage inside the store. Seconds later he was gone.

I got in my car and instantly locked all the doors for safety. Then I just sat there, trying to take stock of what had just happened.

In the span of 30 seconds, I had gone from thinking I was about to get carjacked and springing into “Mama Bear mode” to protect my daughter, to trying to memorize every detail of this man’s face for the police lineup, to being in total shock at the realization that a complete stranger was simply trying to help me.

Then a feeling of guilt took hold as I questioned myself for jumping to the wrong conclusion. But in reflection, the guy did sort of arrive at his good deed in a bit of an unconventional way. He circumnavigated the “personal space” rule and just kind of went for my carriage. I’m grateful it ended up the way it did, but I could easily see how someone can get thrown off guard when they are out of their comfort zone. I’ll admit it – he shook me. And it reinforced that voice in the back of my head (which strangely, has a New York accent and sounds a lot like my husband) that says, “Yeah, but you didn’t know the guy. And you can never be too safe.”

I decided to give myself a break and simply arrive at the feeling of gratitude. I felt gratitude at the man’s kindness, and gratitude that my heart rate had now returned to normal.

I strapped into my seatbelt and turned on the ignition. As I was about to put the car in reverse, I caught my daughter’s eye in the rearview mirror. I turned around to look at her in the back seat. She smiled at me. “Time to go home, Mom,” she said brightly. I exhaled, and smiled back. Enough excitement for one day.