Seeing an angel, right before my eyes
Truth be told, I’m not a jingle-all-theway type of person. Ask my friends.
It’s not that I don’t love Christmas, I do. I just don’t love marketing of the sacred into the tacky, starting before Halloween.
But there’s one true Christmas story I love, and like many of my adventures, this one begins at my friendly, neighborhood Boerne H-E-B.
A few years ago, on the last day of work before Christmas break, I stopped at H-E-B for milk, bread and eggs — not my most brilliant decision.
The lines at each register were backed up into the store’s aisles and, as per usual, I found myself in the slowest one.
One man forgot pecans and asked if he could run back for them. Yes. So, we waited.
Another customer with a loaded cart presented the clerk with 25 or more coupons to be dealt with individually after her up not a groceries were rung up. Some of the coupons were valid; others were debated. That took a while. One woman couldn’t find her wallet in the huge purse she was carrying and began unloading all manner of stuff onto the conveyer belt in search of the mysterious missing billfold.
Frantic with frustration and furious with myself for even being there, I tried some deep breathing, and did some Zen stuff. (Oh, who am I kidding, Zen? Nope. I’m master of the ancient arts — I’m the one who got kicked out of my YMCA tai chi class for knocking people down because I couldn’t perform a simple, slow movement without tipping over onto other tai chi’ers.)
But finally, there were only two people ahead of me. The first was a young father with a wiggly little 3-year-old in the basket seat who was as frustrated as me; and the woman I was directly behind.
My breathing calmed; “Nightmare on Bandera Street” was about to end.
WALLS
The young father’s bill came to well over $100 at a time when a hundred bucks still bought a lot of food. But when he swiped his credit card, it was denied. (Oh, nooooo!)
Puzzled, he pulled another credit card out of his wallet — same result. The mortified man said he couldn’t understand it and proceeded to call his wife.
Meanwhile, the store manager was brought over to discuss the situation, with the distressed father attempting to call his wife while simultaneously trying to keep his now howling and squirming child from falling out of the cart.
The harried checkout clerk was instructing the man to pull his cart over to the far wall so she could check out other customers. In short, a three-ring circus.
Now on most days, nobody appreciates high drama more than me. But on this day, I was tired and I was about as grumpy as that 3-year-old, when suddenly — a Christmas miracle!
The woman in front of me calmly stepped up to the credit card machine, swiped her own credit card through, smiled at the young father, and said, “ There you go. Merry Christmas!”
You know how in the movies, when Lassie saves the drowning boy, the music changes to something miraculous? That’s what I heard in my head — miraculous music.
The man said he could not accept her generosity. This Christmas angel, posing as an ordinary shopper, simply handed the young man her business card and said, “Don’t be embarrassed. This same thing has happened to me before. Here’s my information if you want to pay me back, but it would be a blessing to me if you would accept this gift.”
So, there you go! Merry Christmas!
Mary Ellen Walls is a longtime Boerne area resident.
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