We think of greedy people as wrong and bad and possibly evil. We see them as hurting others to get what they want, disregarding everything in their path. We have images of them as twisted and angry looking, hunched over with eyes that bore through you trying to get to what they want. However greed can just be unthinking or uncaring in the moment and it can be anyone at any moment if we don’t stop to think about our actions.
Right now it is going on in every Walmart and Target and Sears. It’s happening at Macys, at every mall in America, it’s Michaels, and Walgreens and don’t even get me started on the Disney Store. But it’s not big Walstreet types stealing benefits from the employees, it’s the lady with the cart blocking the aisle for others, it’s the person rushing past others and pushing them aside or brushing past older people or those who need a bit of assistance. It’s the person that grabs in front of someone trying to reach an item on a high shelf and the one that stops right in front of the item that someone else is patiently trying to get to. All of this says, I’m better than you and you don’t count so get out of my way.
Is that one item on your list so important that you can’t take two seconds to be kind to someone else in the aisle? Is your shopping list or your to-do list so overwhelming that you can’t notice other people around you and be civil? Today, remember that the reason for the season is Peace on Earth and that means in the check out line, that means making way for the pregnant women who are having a hard time just breathing let alone navigating the obstacle course that has been created in the store, that means yourself. Take a breath, take a break, think about the fact that every action you take is an example of who you are as a human being. And more than likely you’re not a greedy person. So act like it.