Generosity

Our downtown has a sidewalk sale every fall. There are lots of bargains to be had and it brings out the shoppers in droves.

This past Sunday, the sermon at church was on generosity. The minister didn't preach on giving money, giving time but on generosity of spirit. For most, I think when we hear the word generous, we think of giving money, lots of it. I looked up the work in the dictionary and was surprised at the definition--

GENEROUS

–adjective
1.liberal in giving or sharing; unselfish: a generous patron of the arts; a generous gift.
2.free from meanness or smallness of mind or character; magnanimous.
3.large; abundant; ample: a generous portion of pie.
4.rich or strong in flavor: a generous wine.
5.fertile; prolific: generous soil.

I had listened to the sermon. I had thought about it at the time and then I went out and took on the week. I didn't really take it to heart until today.

This morning I volunteered to hand out information and stickers for a program my Junio*r Leagu*e sponsors called S*A*F*E* at the Sidewalk Sale in my community. The S*A*F*E* program is a program of my Junio*r Leagu*e in conjunction with the sheriff's department and it is an effort to place identifying information (name, age, allergies, etc.) on children's car seats in the event that there is a car accident and the adult(s) in the car cannot speak. Children don't have ID, many can't share pertinent information to a medical team about themselves or who the next of kin is to call. This program aims to solve the problem by placing stickers on the underside of car seats with the information on the child(ren) in the car in case this ever occurs.

It's a pretty good program, and a logical one. Who wouldn't want this on their child's car seat? Who wouldn't want their child allergies known if you were injured in a car accident and unable to speak and your child was injured and had to have medical attention?

This program has had wide success in our county. And this morning, I was out at the sidewalk sale, handing out the car seat identifier stickers and information to passerbys with children. All was going well...until.

A young mother and friend were pushing their strollers with their young infants all bundled up. The mom's were drinking their Starb*cks and chatting. As they came near, I approached, attempted to had them the stickers and explain the program when one of the ladies swatted it out of my hand and said---"NO!". My response was of course shock. I then said, "I am not trying to sell you anything, I am trying to tell you about a program to keep children safe in the event of a car accident...". That's as far as I got when she put her hand up, rolled her eyes at me, look at her friend and said "Whatever!" and kept on rolling by.

If it weren't for the fellow League member with me and another lady who was walking behind the two young moms, I don't think I would have been able to comprehend what happened. They were both shocked too at how rude and dismissive she was.

I know in this day and age that we are bombarded with sales calls and the people at the mall who jump out at you and want to show you how dead sea salts will polish your skin or that your child should model. But, I wasn't one of those people, and I wasn't selling anything other than a little peace of mind that if you are in a car accident and you are gravely injured and cannot speak that the police can assist your child better and/or contact someone of your choosing to take care of your children.

It reminded me of the sermon on Sunday. Generosity of spirit. Maybe I shouldn't be so dismissive of others. Maybe I should take a few seconds out to listen to someone that I otherwise wouldn't normally give the time of day.