The Kindness of Strangers

For those of you who wonder if it is easy to take a 7 week old out to run errands, witness the series of events that took place today. . .

"Hi, welcome to Lifeway (bookstore). Can I help you?"

"No thanks. I'm not sure what I'm looking for." A tiny whimper emanates from the stroller. She smiles nervously and begins to rock the stroller back and forth with the naive hopefulness that only a first time mom possesses. She scours the best sellers as the whimper begins to increase in volume. "Better get moving," she thinks. As she moves into the fiction aisles, the whimper is a full blown cry. WAAHHH! She fumbles to remove the tricky car seat harnesses. "I bet if I hold her, she'll stop crying," she thinks with less confidence. WAAHHH!! WAAHHH! She is sure the crying is now loud enough that the entire shopping center is looking around to see where the ruckus is coming from.

"Oh, how old is your little one?"

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

"Seven weeks," she harriedly responds.

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

"Yes, I remember those cries! Mine are 12 and 14 now."

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

The new mom smiles and decides to kick this shopping experience into high gear. She rounds a corner and finds a book that she hopes will be an acceptable gift. She tosses the book into the empty stroller and begins to make a bee line for the checkout bouncing and shooshing the screaming baby on the way.

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

"I recognize those cries," he says with a knowing smile. "I work in a NICU."

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

"Oh, really?" she responds still bouncing and shooshing. She hopes she has heard the man correctly over the frantic cries of the little one on her hip. She distractedly searches for the pacifier.

"Yes, we hear a lot of cries like that in the NICU. Is she hungry?"

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

"Shouldn't be. She just ate." She mentally calculates the drive time and the time spent in the store to make sure she was correct. "She's just tired. You know, fell asleep in the car. Woke up when I jostled her out of it."

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

"Oh, I understand. Look Caroline, she has a tiny baby." His wife comes closer to inspect the source of all of the noise. The new mom makes furtive glances toward the checkout and wonders how to politely escape.

"How old is she?"

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

"Seven weeks. She's normally very happy. She's just tired right now."

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

"What's her name?"

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

"Cora."

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

"With a C or a K?"

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

"With a C. C-O-R-A." She wonders whether people can actually register the anxiety and embarrassment she is feeling. Again, she ponders how to politely remove herself from the conversation.

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

"Will she take a pacifier?"

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

"Sometimes. But, we lost our favorite pacifier yesterday."

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

The crying has now gone supersonic. "I guess I should probably get her out of here." She quickly heads toward the checkout jostling several lovely displays on the way there, but not caring to check that nothing was damaged. The couple follow her with their own purchases. With skill she didn't even know she possessed, she manages to get the book out of the stroller, the baby in, and her wallet in her hand.

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

"May I have your phone number, ma'am?" The new mom calls out her phone number over the din. "Have you been here before?"

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

"Oh, it's probably been a long time." She fumbles in her wallet for the little plastic card to show she is a member or a subscriber or a donor or whatever this store calls it.

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

"You're not in the system. Would you care to give an address so that we can send you valuable coupons and sale information?"

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

At this point, the new mom is barely able to think straight. For some reason, she obliges the cashier and begins to rattle off address information. In the back of her mind, she wonders whether or not the cashier actually recognizes that she is in charge of the screaming baby. The kind couple offer to rock the stroller.

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

"Sometimes if you touch their feet, they calm down. It worked for my nephew."

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

"Yes, Cora sometimes gets cold. So, we noticed when we rub her feet she relaxes."

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

"Do you mind if I try?" another salesperson cautiously asks.

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

"Please, be my guest!"

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

At this point the new mom recognizes the mad cry, a cross between a goat bleating and Woody Woodpecker. "It's the mad cry," she admits, embarassed. The salesperson backs away scared. "If she's this dramatic now, I'm a little afraid of when she's a teenager!" the new mom fearfully admits.

WAAHHH!!! WAAHHH!!!! WAAAAHHHHH!!!

The kind couple looks at her earnestly. "We'll pray for you!" they respond. Purchase in hand, the mom quickly cuts toward the door hoping to escape into the outside world.