A local grocery store here is remodeling
and not a single one of the changes is good for those of us who shop
there. The grocery aisles have been rearranged with some going in one
direction and others going in another. The aisles have been pushed
closer together too making it harder to get through them. All of the
items have been moved from their usual spots as well. It seems like all
of these changes have been for the purpose of slowing the shoppers down
so they will make more impulse buys and give the store bigger profits.
As I walked through the store today no one was smiling and everyone was
unhappy about it.
The change that bothered me the most, however,
was in the check-out aisles. Only a few cashiers were left working with
huge sections being converted into self-scanning check-outs. It saddened
me to see this. I knew that people were probably going to lose their
jobs because of this change. I got in a cashier aisle and patiently
waited while I saw some other people struggling to figure out how the
self scan machines worked. I vowed at that moment never to use one
myself even if I had to wait longer every time I shopped there.
When I finally arrived at the front of the
aisle I saw the cashier was someone I knew. I smiled and asked her how
her family was doing. She smiled back with a warmth and kindness that
touched my soul. We chatted happily while she scanned and bagged up my
groceries. I felt a friendship and a connection with her that warmed my
heart. I wished her well before I left and said a little prayer to God
for her and all the other hard working cashiers there.
Machines can do a lot for us, but there are
many things they can’t do. They can’t smile. They can’t love. They can’t
touch a heart. Only we can do that. Only we can make life worth living.
It is time we realize that profits aren’t more important than people and
machines aren’t more important than us. It is time we see that we are
here not to conquer the world but to be a part of it. It is time we
learn that Loving God, each other, and this world is what life is all
about.
Joseph J. Mazzella
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