Errands this morning...

Brooks and I left the house a bit ago to run a few errands before his morning nap, and I had a couple of interesting interactions.

"'ello, swee' 'eart. Need a 'and wif' 'at?" A twenty-something construction worker stood in front of our flat, having just loaded up his arms with metal poles to rig up some scaffolding down the block. He probably held three or four times what I could lift with great effort, balancing it on his shoulder like a boy with a fishing pole. He had seen me come out our front door with Brooks in the stroller, and when I paused to marvel at his effortless weightlifting, I imagine he thought I was hoping for assistance with getting Brooks down the stairs to the sidewalk. I smiled a big grin at his offer, and responded with, "oh no, but thank you. You seem to have your hands full right now!" He waved with his other hand and grinned as he went on his way ... I bounced down the four or five steps with Brooks and warmed at the thought of the occasional politeness that surprises me over here.

The check-out woman in the grocery where I do most of my day-to-day shopping, like many of her co-workers, wore a veil. This morning, as I often do, I asked - how are you today? Sometimes when I ask that question, it's the only time I see them smile. More often it's just blank stares as they scan products and accept payment. Today, she shrugged and told me that she was sick, cough, cold, the whole deal - she even demonstrated with a painful hack. When I told her I was just getting over a cold and that I hope hers would pass quickly, she said "Life is hard, it just never ends" and offered a sort of hopeless, half smile. I wondered if that phrase was something she said often. It made me want to ask her to tea and have a chat sometime to figure out how she thinks.

As I left the store, I passed the final check-out lane, where an older British gentleman and his wife were picking up a few items. "'ello, love" he said to the check-out girl. Something about him reminded me of a British version of my dad. Maybe it was the wool cap. It was really comforting and made me miss him so much. His birthday is coming up and even though I've managed to surprise him and come home from Chicago a few times in the last several years, I'm afraid I'll have to celebrate his day from afar.

Brooks is napping now, and I have a stroller full of groceries to unload. It's funny, this day has been very routine, but somehow just paying attention to the people around me made this morning feel much more meaningful. I should do this more often.