(originally written 5/2/10)

I was at the check-out at the grocery store today and observed an interesting reminder that we are all on the same level, and nobody is better or worse than anyone else.

There were 2 women ahead of me – the one directly in front of me was older nicely dressed, and at one point as we were waiting turned and looked at me, rolling her eyes and smiling, as if to say “here we go.” I didn’t know what was going on, so smiled back, then started taking notice of the woman at the head of the line who was trying to pay for her groceries. She was much younger than the other woman, and the manager had been called over due to a problem with her check. As the situation unfolded, it became evident she had food stamps and a WIC check, and for some reason there was a glitch and her payment was not being accepted by the machine. My heart went out to her because it was only a matter of $6, and I could only imagine how embarrassed she was not only because of the problem but because it drew attention to her use of food stamps.

The lady directly ahead of me turned again to smile at me as if to find a common thread of frustration between us, however I did not make eye contact. The apparent impatience she was starting to exhibit seemed inappropriate in light of the woman who had gone through such humiliation.

After both women had left the store, and the cashier was ringing me up, the first woman came back looking for her car keys – she thought she had left them on the counter, but they were nowhere to be found. She then realized she had put them in her pocket and left the store. A few moments passed and the second lady, the one who had rolled her eyes about the first woman, came back with the same anxiety, fearful she had left her car keys and unable to locate them. I found this to be humorous – two women, two different ages, two different walks of life, two different financial situations, and yet they both experienced the loss of their car keys in the same way. It was as though God was setting things right in the universe, ensuring that regardless of everything else, the playing field stayed on an equal level. Bottom line, we all lose our keys, have financial embarrassments, and none of us is better than anyone else.