These scenarios are only really heard of in movies or a really good book, but Monday night at the mall I experienced a moment that I will remember and cherish for the rest of my life.
It was an average night at Quail Springs Mall. People were annoying. Money was flowing. Shoes were selling. I was at Finish Line, a sporting goods store. At about 8 p.m., an average guy walked into the store. From behind the counter, the sales associate – I think his name was Adam – greeted him and asked him how he was doing. He looked at Adam, smiled, and nodded. It was a normal situation so far.
The guy spent about five minutes looking at shoes that were on display. He picked one up, looked in Adam’s direction, and waved the shoe in the air. At Finish Line, this is the universal sign for, “I need a shoe, please.” Adam walked up to him, and asked him what size he needed. He paused, looked Adam in the eye, and pointed toward his ear, implying that he was both deaf and mute.
I froze. I didn’t know what to do.
Adam’s first reaction was to grab a sticky note and write down, “What size?” The man responded by writing, “10.5,” so Adam went into the stockroom and found his shoe. When Adam picked up the box, I noticed that he was shaking intensely. Adam dashed back into the stockroom after delivering the man’s shoes.
Hearing and speaking shouldn’t be something that I take for granted on a daily basis. Those are little things, senses that people should be born with. It’s an ability that everyone has, right? But I was wrong. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for this guy. Why did I have the ability to speak and he didn’t? I have most likely done things much worse than he would have ever thought about doing, and I have a gift that I don’t even consider a gift – and that’s my problem.
I speak hundreds, if not thousands, of words a day, and I don’t pay attention to a single one that comes out. If that man had three words, I bet they would probably be the most incredible words that anyone I have ever encountered would say. It’s not fair.
This situation made me want to start all over again. If I could give that man my voice and my ears, I would do it in a heartbeat. I am a guilty sinner. I don’t deserve to be able to speak and hear when I don’t consider those two things blessings, until now.
When I got home from the mall, I prayed. I prayed for that man, and his struggles that he has been facing with this disability that he deals with every day of his life. I prayed that he is happy even though he can’t express it vocally. I prayed that he goes through with his life encouraging and blessing more people like he did me, and most likely Adam, in a simple thirty seconds exchange of written words. I prayed that I could learn to take the words that I am blessed enough to speak, and use them wisely to spread good news.
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