Well let's see...this is what happened. I have had a pile of donations and boxes of food ready for the Bread of Life. The BOL is a place here in town connected to a shelter or housing of some sort, I am not sure. This pile has been sitting in the living room at the end of the couch so long I fear some of the food might be outdated now. Dammit!!!!
The other day I finally snagged Monte and asked him if he would take it down to the BOL. He was happy to do it. The first couple of donations he took in were welcomed with grateful open arms. It is such a good feeling to be part of that.
At Xmas I bought an extra turkey and some fixings and again had him take it down to them. The BOL is the main place here in town that feed the vulnerable....meals and food.
So he happily loaded up the car with the food and a couple of boxes of items. Down he went. About fifteen minutes later he suddenly slammed back into the house, and yelled " I am effing never going back there!!!!! SHE YELLED 'WE DON'T WANT YOUR GARBAGE!!!!!' OMG!!! He was beyond humiliated and upset. He wouldn't talk about it. He flew into his bedroom and slammed his door. I did go down and try to get him to talk but he wouldn't. He was beside himself.
Later I took him out for supper and got him to add a few extra details. I guess they had a bit of argument about how he had brought stuff in before and he was actually told by the Sally Ann to do just that. She said he was lying and that he had never been there before. This establishment is part of the Sally Ann, which is very staunch Christian. He yelled back at her that she needed to find Jesus and packed it all back out to the car and came flying home. He still won't talk about it. I put the whole episode on Facebook on our town fb page, without names and the reaction was amazing. People were so upset on Monte's behalf and had all kinds of alternative solutions. And it was amazing just how many people in this town super dislike that place for much the same reason. One lady privately messaged me and asked me to describe her. She was going to discuss it with the guy that runs the place, who by the way apparently is a fantastic person. All I could pass on was date and time it happened and monte said she was grey haired, short and dumpy.
Now here is the crazy part! Remember in the last post I mentioned we stopped at the 7/11 and I got a slurpy? Well as I was struggling massively with a too small lid for the damned slurpy, Monte came over and bent down low and whispered in my ear, 'the lady that yelled at me is at the till working.' What?????? She is a seven elevener!!!!! And due to his height and the strange clothes he wears plus hat, she would def remember him. So I made sure to be with him and talking to him so she would know I was also with him.
When I got to the till I wouldn't look at her, I was brief and snappy with any answers I had to give her, refused an offer to donate to something (believe it or not) with a sharp clipped NO and paid, walked out of there, no good bye no thank you or have a nice day. She was being extremely nice and helpful. lol
As soon as I got home I messaged the person who was going to talk to the boss and told her that the lady worked at seven eleven....that would help identify her.
But now I feel bad. I feel I should have waited a day or two before reacting. I know this. I know when I am feeling super strongly immediately about something I need to wait til I can think clearly. I was feeling so hurt on Monte's behalf and I was not thinking in a very balanced way. So I let her rip on Facebook.
Which now I totally regret. As much as I expect people who work with the public to be careful and understanding, so must we the public. I was pretty upset that this lady was yelling and she doesn't know if that person is fragile or not. Well the same responsibility goes the other way from the public. I remember teaching my little kids that. That person could have just suffered domestic abuse, or lost a close person or just be having a stressful day.
I told Monte this. I told him that for someone to behave in such an extreme manner, something has to be wrong, either with her or with her day. Doesn't mean it's right, but it does mean there is a reason.
Anyway the joys of living in a small town. What are the odds of seeing the lady elsewhere that quickly. Anyway, I added this message to my original post on Facebook. Kindness and understanding are what makes the world go around! TFL&TTYL
