Earlier today, I was shopping for groceries.  Seeing the nebulous item of “Fruit” on the grocery list, I figured I would look for whatever was on sale.  Leaving my cart, I briefly scanned the shelves and in a few seconds found the perfect candidate.  Strawberries.  On sale and looking all sorts of plump, red, and delicious.

I grabbed two cartons and headed back to my cart.  Much to my surprise, I went to set the strawberries into my basket to find, strawberries.  Strawberries already there.  Pausing for a second, I considered how silly I was to already forget my previous selection.  Then it struck me, I was reaching into someone else’s cart.  I was a grocery store creeper.

Looking down the aisle, I found the proper cart and scurried in that direction with the hopes that I had not been noticed.  Looking around I did not see anyone who looked concerned.  Instead, I saw faces.  For the first time in a long time, I actually “saw” other people in the store.  Not obstacles.  Not strangers who I shared a smile and “excuse me,” as I passed.  No, I saw people.  People just like me.  People with hopes, dreams, and pain, just like me.

Perhaps, they had a rough morning, like me.  Perhaps, they just wanted to be out of the store quickly, like me.  Perhaps, they had every intention of returning to buy Thin Mints from the Girl Scouts, just like me.

They were not people to be avoided.  They were not people to be feared.  They were people who deserved my respect.  They were people to be understood.

None of us are any better than our neighbor.  We are all just trying to figure this out.  Some of us just have more trouble finding the correct cart for our strawberries, that’s the only difference I could see.