I\u2019ve been working at the grocery store for about a month now and it hasn\u2019t been what I expected. Surprisingly, I actually really like it there. It\u2019s getting me out of the house and also out of my own head, which is more of a blessing than I realized. I had no idea how deeply I\u2019d been living in just rumination and mental exercise until I stepped out of it for a little bit each day and it was so refreshing. I feel like I\u2019ve kind of reset myself.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019ve felt contentment and joy in ways that I haven\u2019t had in many years. I feel like myself again.<\/span><\/p>\n I love seeing people and talking to them and trying to bring some joy into their lives. I can feel myself radiating happiness. Even being an introvert who taught herself small talk from Star Trek TNG I am feeling energized by interacting with all these different people. It\u2019s a strange way to serve people but it is serving and it does give me the chance to put into practice treating every person as a manifestation of God.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n There can be some really strange moments too. One guy told me that he calls bindi wearers \u201cpush start\u201d and turban wearers \u201cpull start.\u201d I didn\u2019t know what to say to that! He was saying it in a joking way but it was such a bizarre statement. I\u2019ve been scaring some of the customers with my sindoor. Now that I\u2019m using a liquid bindi and sindoor it does tend to look more like a cut on my head. I need to find a way to do it that doesn\u2019t look like some terrible prank.<\/span><\/p>\n I was proud of myself for not blowing up when one woman told me that the \u201cword of the day is \u2018pray.\u2019 Because Jesus is coming back for us soon.\u201d I just said, \u201cWell, the weather has been awfully strange. Perhaps it is the apocalypse.\u201d \u00a0I was not so gentle when a couple of proselytizers came in. They were buying groceries from my coworker and I overheard them start talking about apostle Paul. I ignored it. But then they pulled out a postcard about their church for my coworker. Still ignored it. Then as they were walking out they tried to hand me a postcard. I said, \u201cNot for me, I\u2019m not Christian.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n And you know what he said? He grinned and said, \u201cWell, we all aren\u2019t until we are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n I said, \u201cI\u2019m Hindu and I\u2019m very happy with my religion\u201d but he was already mostly out the door. That made my blood boil. There\u2019s a sign on the front door that says people are not allowed to distribute literature like that. I think it was highly inappropriate to evangelize in our work place like that. But I know to these people everywhere is a good place to evangelize. That\u2019s the only thing that has made me upset since starting this job.<\/span><\/p>\n Another unexpected benefit is being able to practice languages. I had a Deaf customer and once I realized that\u2019s why she wasn\u2019t responding to my small talk, I switched to Sign Language. It was the first time I\u2019ve used the ASL I know since my college classes. I\u2019ve never used it in a practical setting. It felt great to be able to do that. I tried out my Hindi too on a few people but didn\u2019t get a good reaction. I don\u2019t just assume that every Indian I see speaks Hindi but one couple were speaking to each other in Hindi so at the end of their transaction I wished them Shub Ratri. They looked anything but pleased. I guess maybe they didn\u2019t like the idea that I understood them speaking to each other? I don\u2019t know. I had a few more incidents like that. But at least I got over the hurdle of actually saying something in Hindi out loud to someone!<\/span><\/p>\n A few people have asked about my bindi and I feel a little awkward about having those conversations at work. When it\u2019s a fellow Hindu asking about it I happily tell them my history. I had a nice chat with one woman about the Sri Shiva Vishnu temple near us. When it\u2019s non-Hindus I try to direct the conversation to something else because it doesn\u2019t seem like the right time or place to talk about my faith. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But yeah, over all this has been a very nice experience and I\u2019m happy to be doing work that I feel good about and that has an immediate effect on people that I can see.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Other benefits include sleeping more soundly than I have in years, getting a better understanding of how sales and coupons work from the other side, good exercise from walking over and then standing for my shifts, and a clearer head.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve been working at the grocery store for about a month now and it hasn\u2019t been what I expected. Surprisingly, I actually really like it there. It\u2019s getting me out of the house and also out of my own head, which is more of a blessing than I realized. I had no idea how deeply […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1305,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[121,134,6,53,2242,5],"class_list":["post-7342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wild-card","tag-ambaa","tag-american-hindu","tag-hindu","tag-hinduism","tag-truth-about-working-at-a-grocery-store","tag-white-hindu"],"yoast_head":"\n