{"id":361,"date":"2008-09-05T17:49:00","date_gmt":"2008-09-05T17:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.buildingcathedrals.com\/2008\/09\/05\/an-unexpected-pat-on-the-back\/"},"modified":"2008-09-05T17:49:00","modified_gmt":"2008-09-05T17:49:00","slug":"an-unexpected-pat-on-the-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/2008\/09\/an-unexpected-pat-on-the-back\/","title":{"rendered":"An Unexpected Pat on the Back"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

After a particularly unpleasant trip to Trader Joe\u2019s at our upscale outdoor shopping mall this morning (I\u2019ll spare you all the details), I decided to make it up to the kids by stopping by the bakery in the super-upscale indoor \u201cfarmer\u2019s market\u201d for some sample cups of their homemade granola. Goods at this \u201cfarmer\u2019s market\u201d cost far more than they do at the grocery store, and everything is administered by people in costume\u2013people dressed like Dutch\/Amish farmers serve soft pretzels and homemade goods; the meat vendor is always in a butcher\u2019s get-up but it\u2019s clear he hasn\u2019t been butchering anything; the produce guys also sell shushi and they\u2019re all Asian and dressed in Asian chef outfits. It\u2019s kind of comical really. To top it all off, everyone who shops there is quite abrupt and rushed and usually mad. Someone actually told my mom to leave the place when she was there on a Saturday moving slowly through the aisles with Bella and Bean in tow. We just go there for free samples when I\u2019m in a bad mood.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

So, riff raff that we are, we entered the \u201cfarmer\u2019s market\u201d bashing the barely-wide-enough doorway with the double stroller, me sweating (this is our M.O. these days as we enter any building) as we clogged the doorway, preventing angry, rushing people from entering. A hot little mom with one beautiful two year old looked at me with pity, and I turned my nose into the air to show I didn\u2019t care. We raced to the granola sample table at the bakery to avoid other interactions.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

As I was scooping our sample cups, the baker\/cashier addressed me (oh great, can\u2019t I just swipe my samples and leave in peace). But she said:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cYour children are beautiful. God bless you. Here, what sample slices of bread would you like? Please, I insist. Here are two honey whole wheat slices for your kids (they were huge slices) and here are two s\u2019mores bread slices for you (also huge, full of dark chocolate pieces). You need the extra energy and you deserve a treat. I was in your shoes once, and I couldn\u2019t afford to hire a sitter to stay with my children while I grocery shopped, so I just had to gut through it. You\u2019re doing a great job. Here are a few extra napkins for your kids while they eat the bread. Is there anything else I can give you?\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Wow. It\u2019s really, really rare for me to have an interaction like this these days. God bless all you wonderful people out there who give struggling moms a little extra pat on the back (and slice of chocolate bread) when we most need it.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

So we took our feast and sat outside at tables in the pretty plaza and feasted on our granola and AMAZING bakery bread, chatting together, enjoying some pleasant summer weather, and being friendly to passers-by and birds. The kids were so happy. It was easily enough food to be my kids\u2019 lunch, so I don\u2019t even have to dirty dishes or spend time preparing food mid-day.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

God bless that lovely lady. Seriously.<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a particularly unpleasant trip to Trader Joe\u2019s at our upscale outdoor shopping mall this morning (I\u2019ll spare you all the details), I decided to make it up to the kids by stopping by the bakery in the super-upscale indoor \u201cfarmer\u2019s market\u201d for some sample cups of their homemade granola. Goods at this \u201cfarmer\u2019s market\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":735,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAn Unexpected Pat on the Back<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After a particularly unpleasant trip to Trader Joe's at our upscale outdoor shopping mall this morning (I'll spare you all the details), I decided to make\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/2008\/09\/an-unexpected-pat-on-the-back\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An Unexpected Pat on the Back\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After a particularly unpleasant trip to Trader Joe's at our upscale outdoor shopping mall this morning (I'll spare you all the details), I decided to make\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/2008\/09\/an-unexpected-pat-on-the-back\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Building Cathedrals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-09-05T17:49:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_nLvqotZUzj8\/SMFweJwP4NI\/AAAAAAAAAFw\/4VrdfBkdgJ4\/s200\/bread.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"sullijo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"sullijo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/2008\/09\/an-unexpected-pat-on-the-back\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/2008\/09\/an-unexpected-pat-on-the-back\/\",\"name\":\"An Unexpected Pat on the Back\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-09-05T17:49:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-09-05T17:49:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/#\/schema\/person\/3f1bbce53da5d4e79ef74a99873b474d\"},\"description\":\"After a particularly unpleasant trip to Trader Joe's at our upscale outdoor shopping mall this morning (I'll spare you all the details), I decided to make\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/2008\/09\/an-unexpected-pat-on-the-back\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/2008\/09\/an-unexpected-pat-on-the-back\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/2008\/09\/an-unexpected-pat-on-the-back\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"An Unexpected Pat on the Back\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/\",\"name\":\"Building Cathedrals\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/#\/schema\/person\/3f1bbce53da5d4e79ef74a99873b474d\",\"name\":\"sullijo\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2d93e9f3f32e43d5fbb4f5fbead5dca2?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2d93e9f3f32e43d5fbb4f5fbead5dca2?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"sullijo\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/author\/sullijo\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"An Unexpected Pat on the Back","description":"After a particularly unpleasant trip to Trader Joe's at our upscale outdoor shopping mall this morning (I'll spare you all the details), I decided to make","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/2008\/09\/an-unexpected-pat-on-the-back\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"An Unexpected Pat on the Back","og_description":"After a particularly unpleasant trip to Trader Joe's at our upscale outdoor shopping mall this morning (I'll spare you all the details), I decided to make","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/2008\/09\/an-unexpected-pat-on-the-back\/","og_site_name":"Building Cathedrals","article_published_time":"2008-09-05T17:49:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_nLvqotZUzj8\/SMFweJwP4NI\/AAAAAAAAAFw\/4VrdfBkdgJ4\/s200\/bread.jpg"}],"author":"sullijo","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"sullijo","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/2008\/09\/an-unexpected-pat-on-the-back\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/2008\/09\/an-unexpected-pat-on-the-back\/","name":"An Unexpected Pat on the Back","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/#website"},"datePublished":"2008-09-05T17:49:00+00:00","dateModified":"2008-09-05T17:49:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/#\/schema\/person\/3f1bbce53da5d4e79ef74a99873b474d"},"description":"After a particularly unpleasant trip to Trader Joe's at our upscale outdoor shopping mall this morning (I'll spare you all the details), I decided to make","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/2008\/09\/an-unexpected-pat-on-the-back\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/2008\/09\/an-unexpected-pat-on-the-back\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/2008\/09\/an-unexpected-pat-on-the-back\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"An Unexpected Pat on the Back"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/","name":"Building Cathedrals","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/#\/schema\/person\/3f1bbce53da5d4e79ef74a99873b474d","name":"sullijo","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2d93e9f3f32e43d5fbb4f5fbead5dca2?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2d93e9f3f32e43d5fbb4f5fbead5dca2?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"sullijo"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/author\/sullijo\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/735"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/buildingcathedrals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}