PERSPECTIVE: Maybe I Should Look At My Driving Habits-Anne Baxter Campbell

Young woman in the cafe, I wish you could have seen yourself from my perspective.

My husband and I took our seats in the café just ahead of another family. They sat at a table not far from ours. Grandma and Grandpa, Mom, four-year-old son, six-year-old daughter, and baby, maybe six months old. Cute kids that probably just came from Sunday school—the active little boy kept breaking into one phrase of a song I know and used to teach to my Sunday school kids: “Happy all the time.” He had those words down pat. (Other words that he probably didn’t remember yet: “Since Jesus Christ came in, and took away my sin, I’m inright, outright, upright, downright happy all the time.)

Like most four-year-olds, he talked a lot—at least to Grandma and Grandpa. His sister was much quieter, didn’t talk all that much. She sat between her brother and Mom. Baby, on Mom’s other side, was apparently hungry—fussy at first until the waitress brought some crackers. Grandpa sat on baby’s other side, Grandma next to Grandpa on one side and to the boy on the other.
Grandma and Grandpa interacted with the kids quite a bit. Mom not so much. In fact hardly at all, except to tell the kids to be quiet or sit still. She looked bored and irritated, who knows at what. She was carefully made up and coifed—attractive, except for the expression on her face. I didn’t see or hear her say anything to the two older folks.

It wasn’t long before she pulled out her smart phone. Apparently the little girl wanted to see something on it because Mom snapped, “There’s nothing on there to see, see?” She showed the phone to Little Girl for possibly as long as a second before she turned it back to herself and began texting with her pretty decorated fingernails. Or maybe she was surfing the internet or playing a game. Impossible to tell from where I sat.

She came to life finally when the food was brought. Hers was a salad, apparently with meat of some sort on it, but obviously not enough meat. She complained first to her table mates and then to the waitress, and while she wasn’t yelling, the rest of the room could clearly hear her. The manager came and talked to her and then disappeared back into the kitchen.

At that point we were leaving, so I don’t know if or how the situation resolved. I don’t know what was going on behind the scenes, what would motivate the young woman to behave like she did. Grandma and Grandpa looked uncomfortable.
Unimpressive behavior. Or maybe very impressive, but not on the positive side. I’m betting Grandma and Grandpa paid for lunch. At one point Grandma hurried and got the baby’s car seat and helped get the now-sleepy baby settled. Where was the gratitude?

I wonder what I look like from God’s perspective. Do I ignore Him or people who need my attention? Do I forget to express gratitude to Him and to the people He sends into my life? Who is looking at my actions and getting a negative impression? Hm. Maybe I should look at my driving habits.

Anne Baxter Campbell is a writer with a deep love of God, family, and friends. She also has an overwhelming fascination with the Bible and biblical history. Add to that a basic romantic bent, and there you go.

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