Sticky Love

Common Courtesy, Karma, and Kindness

My Dear Lovelians,

Do you often find yourself so burdened by the negative actions and attitudes of others you forget how good people can be? Good for seemingly no reason at all? I was just recently reminded of this. The trigger? Common courtesy.

My story begins at a Mediterranean restaurant not unlike Chipotle or Subway in system. I walk in and quickly put my problem-solving skills to use while waiting in line. See, the assembly-line works well when every person orders for herself. Then there are the little hiccups like me who end up ordering for two other people besides herself, and the system has a brain fart not knowing what to do with me.

So I step up to bat and briefly explain to this wonderfully adaptable employee my intentions while trying my hardest not to confuse the heck out of her and the people behind me. I figured it would be simpler to walk every order through each phase of the line at the same time instead of going back and forth three times like Psych, sir! You thought I was done, heh heh, but wait, there’s more… Made sense to me, and there ended up being minimal confusion, so I think it worked fine. Like I said, very adaptable employee, though I did catch her smirking a couple times, but I was polite, so that had to count for something.

Apparently, it counted for a lot because when we reached the register in a timely manner, at least by my estimation, she looked at me and said “you’re all paid” so nonchalantly I thought she made a mistake. I made eye contact with pinched eyebrows (my confused face), directed her gaze to my unopened wallet, then back at her. She just smiled and nodded encouragingly. Not wanting to be accused of theft, I hesitantly reached for my bag of food and figured if some kind soul in front of me had desired to be incredibly generous, I didn’t want to spoil it by demanding to know all the details. Then the employee adds “oh, would you like your cup?” as if I had paid for one, though I didn’t, but at this rate, I wasn’t paying for anything, so of course I accepted.

After I said my thanks and meandered over to the drinks, and might I just add how delicious blueberry lavender tea is, the same employee finds me, apologizes for the confusion, then proceeds to explain how terrible her day had been up to this point; I made her laugh, therefore, she wanted to repay me by putting my bill on the house. All of it. I was so flabbergasted all I could do was hug her and thank her profusely. I walked out with three meals and a complimentary drink and side of pita bread. Y’all, I read about this kind of thing in books or watch it happen to others on John Krasinski’s YouTube channel “Some Good News” but never actually expected it to happen to me.

This extension of love from a total stranger was so beautiful, I rejoiced with heaven because this has Jesus’ hand all over it. Love like His sticks to the heart like Winnie the Pooh and his honey or pet hair on yoga pants because it is so surprising and abundant, going above and beyond expectations. It reminds me good people exist in the world, which is easier to forget than I would like, but also that His love for me is independent of my behavior, which completely blows the mind of philosophies like karma.

Karma is love’s ugly step-cousin, twice removed or something, the annoying one you put at that table at weddings because she’s so ingrained in our expectations as human beings she just has to be in attendance but is so contrary to reality her presence feels like gate-crashing. Karma says I must have been an extra good person that day to receive such a blessing from…uh…the universe, I guess. I mean, I was raised right, so I consider myself a rather polite human being. Good job, Mom and Dad. But for me, that day was no different than any other time I ordered take-out. Even those serving the holy chicken didn’t offer to pay for my meal.

I think this has to be my favorite attribute of God. His desire to surprise me with sticky love has absolutely nothing to do with my goodness. It is proof to me that not only is He a good God who honors those who do their best to follow in Jesus’ footsteps but also a loving father figure who delights in seeing me smile, not as a reward for anything I deserve but purely because He wants to.

It's hard to wash off sticky love, though I have found forgetfulness to be an excellent detergent. So as long as I remember these seemingly insignificant extensions of love, in whatever form they take or whosever skin they wear, the tacky residue will remain on my fingers long after the emotions die down and my heart stops trying to burst out of my chest for joy, and maybe, just maybe, I will get a little bit of it on someone else who could use the sticky love of Jesus.

Stay Curious,

Olivia

P.S. It made my heart sad to hear how terrible people treated this beautiful employee who was just trying to do her job the best way she knew how. Even if you don’t receive the best service or your tired two-year old is tugging on your arm wailing, please don’t take it out on those trying to serve you. Politeness should be a reflex, not a mood.