Roses and Thorns

Yesterday I had a two minute conversation with the barista at the Starbucks drive through.  I think she might be my new best friend. She’s certainly the longest face-to-face conversation I’ve had with anyone outside my immediate family in two weeks.  

As we have moved from social distancing to Stay Home-Work Safe protocols, I have found many “Roses and Thorns” moments.    If you aren’t familiar with Roses and Thorns, you may not have been subjected to the mandatory after-school conversations about the good and bad parts of your day like the Marafioto children have.  But now, I am finding that these moments have made me much more introspective and appreciative of my daily life . . . and believe it or not, my Roses are abundant. 

Take the Starbucks barista for example.  Pretty much any other day in the past 100 Starbucks trips, I probably would have said four words to any drive-through worker, “Thank you so much!”; maybe “Have a great day!” if my mind wasn’t already moving on to the next two or three places I needed to be.  But today, today we talked. There was no rush. And from six feet apart, she asked about my day and I hers, and we actually listened to each others’ responses. She finished making the Mango-dragonfruit-refreasher-with-extra-ice-blended that my teen usually wouldn’t have time to get after tennis, and I left with a smile and a feeling that this great big Thorn that has turned all of our lives upside down, might be part of a very large rose bush.  

I’ve seen those roses in so many places.  In the man in HEB who gave his eggs to the older gentleman checking out ahead of him.  In the faces of the cafeteria staff passing out lunches and smiles in front of the schools.  In the online service and software providers who, instead of capitalizing on the needs of remote learners, are offering their products free of charge to students and teachers.   I’ve seen roses in my own family who have time to laugh and talk and try new things together. They are apparent when my kids take the time to work out together or cook a meal for the family, or try - although without success -- to teach their old mom a Tik-Tok dance.  And those roses are in full bloom in the service of our medical providers, researchers, grocers, truck drivers, educators, and everyone else who is “making it work” to keep our lives close to normal while we are living far apart. 

Where can you find your Roses today?

Lily, an HEB partner, greets customers with a free bottle of water and a smile as they wait in line for groceries on March 25.  With temperatures nearing 90 degrees and a 20-30 minute wait to get into the store, HEB was not only following COVID-19 protocols, but was paying attention to their customer needs.  "This just made my day," a senior HEB shopper said. "It's nice that they are taking care of all of us while they are so busy themselves."

Cafeteria workers from Northwood Elementary hand out lunch packs to all area students from 11:30 AM -1:00 PM Monday through Friday.  In addition to providing remote classroom instruction, local school districts are providing curb-side nutrition services for all school-aged children.  "This is a great resource for our community," a local Northwood parent said. "It's the happy point in our day to get out of the house and see these smiling faces."