Love is a Universal Language

I snuck away this evening after my youngest, who is ill, fell asleep. You see, I had a proctored exam to take. The lockdown browser I use explicitly states that I must test in a quiet room with little foot traffic.

This means I need to be at least one half mile away from my children as I can hear them "needing me", even when they are not near me asking for things. My dear friend allowed me to test at her house.

I finished my exam, shut my laptop and checked my phone. My children had informed me they need snacks, "Really bad". Of course they do. After all, it is now 2 hours past their bedtime and I am not there to "put them to bed" and apparently this skill no longer comes until well into adulthood.

I drive myself to the grocery store in a torrential downpour and sprint to get out of the elements and grab snacks for my famished offspring who are unable to sleep through the sound of their rumbling bellies.

I arrive home a half hour later, grab the groceries and reach for my phone. It isn't where I usually put it. That's funny. As if I have such a foundational routine as a "usual spot" for my....anything. After checking the typical phone hiding spots in my vehicle, I realize I probably left it at the store. Although I wish the probability of this was low, myself and anyone who knows me would bet on those odds (with love).

I arrive at the grocery store I was at one hour before.

This time I step out of my vehicle into an enchanted world with a soft and magical rain. The type that is paired with a warm breeze and the familiar-oh-so-comforting smell of rain steaming up from the concrete.

Ahhhhh, somedays my scattered brain affords me the most pleasant moments.

I take another deep breath of my savory surroundings when I am pulled from my reverie, by a voice speaking to me. A fellow late-night shopper with his two children accompanied by what seemed to be a friend or a brother, was walking out of the store as I was walking in. The man with the children was pushing a cart. Seated in the baby spot part of the cart was a child I would guess to be 10.5 months old.

Speaking in a cadence and word selection indicative of a language preference not my own, he throws over his shoulder as we passed by, "Hey, want a cart? With a baby?" I didn't need to see his eyes to know he was joking but I looked back anyway and replied, "Absolutely! That's a cute one." We all laughed as I rounded the grocery store entrance to the customer service counter.
The man recognized me right away as I was there an hour ago getting snacks for the poor and unfortunate.

"Phone?" He asks.
"Yes, thank you. I wish I could say that leaving my phone everywhere isn't how I live my life, but it really is."

He smiled and told me, "The gentleman who just left actually brought it to me a while ago." I retrieved my phone from his hand and thanked him.

I walked back outside and saw the family I had just passed as they were loading groceries. I called out to the funny one, held up my phone and said "Hey, did you find this for me?" He affirmed he had as his friend began driving the car with his groceries away slowly, leaving him standing there with his baby in his arms. His friend hollered, in jest, something in a language I do not know as he circled back to man and baby.

I was getting into my car when he said, "He says he will give me a ride home for 20$. Can you give me (and baby) a ride home since I found your phone?"

These guys a a riot, I thought, as I laughed from afar.

Their car and mine left the parking lot at the same time and went opposite directions.

What a life giving experience.

Our chitter-chatter wasn't born of the same language or culture, but the intent was well understood by all.

The media will have us believe we are all so different and divided.

ARE we?

Humor is a universal language and so is love.

I love it when actually experiencing life, contradicts the digitally implied chasm between humans. We can put our media away, walk outside our doors and see what is true between humanity with our own eyeballs, instead of listen to misleading sentiment on the internet. And we might even get a baby out of the deal.