The picture says it all. Please twirl once before you leave home. No, I didn’t take this picture with Droid at the Super Center. If she wasn’t leaning on the push handle it might not be so bad. Have you ever noticed how many people lean on shopping carts shuffling along as if they are having blood sugar dip? Maybe they’re bored or just tired.
At Christmas time Alison was running errands in the rain with Jackson, Mollie Jane and baby Smith. She needed one last stop at Walmart before heading home. They were barely in the door when three-year-old Mollie Jane said she had to go potty. After juggling the baby, helping Mollie with a toilet seat cover and convincing Jackson it was OK for six-year-old boys to be in the ladies room, she decided she should take advantage of the bathroom herself while she was there.
After singing the alphabet while washing hands and gathering everyone up, they were off to conquer the list. They went up one aisle and were coming down the next when an older woman stopped and smiled, patted Jackson on the head, and commented how beautiful the children were. She then quietly said to Alison, “Dear, I think you have something stuck to the back of your skirt.” Then she quickly walked away.
Alison looked around to see a good eight feet of toilet paper trailing her like a wedding dress train. It was neatly tucked up under her skirt in to the waistband of her tights. Mortified, she yanked it off wondering how many people had watched her sashay down the shampoo aisle. In all the confusion with the kids, she forgot to twirl once.
More than likely no one else even noticed her white tail because they were all so preoccupied with Christmas shopping. At least that’s what I told Alison.
Our lives get so busy words are something else we forget to mentally twirl before we send them out. Words can sting like blow darts. Be careful to mentally edit what you say before you say it. If we leave home with a wardrobe faux pas, we can fix it. Once words are spoken they can’t be changed as easily as a pair of underwear.
Always remember to twirl once. Check your clothes. Check your words.
“He who guards his mouth and tongue keeps himself from calamity.”
-Proverbs 21:23
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And for heavens sake, don't expect your husband to mention it if you (in your hurry to get out the door before the baby wakes up) put your shirt on backwards and inside out. Not that I would know about that or anything . . . And I quote, "You always look beautiful to me, Dear."
ReplyDeleteComments on the toilet paper trail--- when I was in high school, I had to use the rest room but had little time to get to home room. I made a quick "pit-stop" and went on my way. When I entered home room, a piece of toliet paper drifted down from under my crinoline skirt onto the floor. A stuck-up cheerleader noticed it at the same time I did. I just pretended it wasn't mine and walked on to my seat. To this day, when I go to my class reunions, this cheerleading snubs me. I have never forgotten this embarassing incident.
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