"Karens" come in every color, shape or form...

Yesterday afternoon I was at Macy's shopping some Christmas gifts for my kids. I picket up one shoe for my daughter and needed to go to the register to get the other one and pay. After waiting in a long line, I got to the register and the lady said she needed to go back and get the other one, so she told me to wait on the side of the register. She kept ringing other people up and then she went to get my other shoe. When she comes back, she calls me and says, "ma'am, I have the other shoe. You can come to the register now".

As soon as she said that, this Karen man starts yelling to the both of us, especially me, accusing me that I was cutting the line. When I explained that I had been in line and the lady told me to wait, that's what I did, but he wouldn't budge. I was doing exactly what I was told. This person kept arguing and asking why I had to be helped before him and not before anybody else. He demanded for me to get back in line. Too bad the lady in charged actually didn't take charge. She tried to explain to this "King" wannabe that I had been waiting already but the man was demanding too loud. I decided to go back to the line so the scene wouldn't turn into a drama. My cheeks turned fury red when I heard this man saying, "yeah, you do that. Go to the end of the line". The line was long. All of them looked at me and didn't say a word. Except for the lady in front of me. A young lady, holding beautiful shoes and half of the store in clothing. She asked me if I wanted to go in front of her because I waited for so long! She was so sweet and friendly that I didn't mind waiting a little more. I felt humiliated though.

My flesh and emotions would like to rant above and beyond about so many messed up cultural and social issues that go along with this story. I won't.

I will say this though. And I include myself because nobody is exempt. We have to stop being hypocrites in denial. There is good and bad in EVERY SINGLE CULTURE! No ethnic group or culture is better that another. We are all just beautifully different. People are just people. We're all made of the same flesh, blood, organs and have the same conditions and possibilities.

Besides all the qualities God gave us that somewhat identify us, what really marks who we are is our attitude. We are confronted with the question, what kind of person do you want to be? every single day. Whether we want to put up with it or not. We can go to church, or march for justice, but if at the end of the road, the need of feeling respected or prioritized is greater than humiliating somebody, then all the rest is down the drain.

I had made a decision long ago about who I want to be and be remembered for. It's hard, not gonna lie. Some people make kindness sound impossible. But is not. Some people are so used to fighting for everything that they don't know how to live without. I grew up in a culture that would teach my generation to step on people's heads to get what you want, laugh at people's misfortunes, answer back and quick, don't respect the elderly. I thank God I listened to my parents and they listened to wisdom. While society was teaching me that pride would define me, I'm glad I listened to the voice that taught me the opposite.

Probably the end of the story is that we both went home with gifts that could make someone else smile. Nonetheless, I took home something more valuable. Dignity.