I have been delivering meals on Thanksgiving and Christmas mornings every year since I was 12 years old. It used to be through the Honor Court and is now Manna Soup kitchen. They have continued to do an amazing job in serving people not only holiday meals, but during the week all year round to those that may not be able to cook, or can afford a good meal. To me, this has been a vital staple to our community. I applaud all of the volunteers that work tirelessly in the kitchen prepping and cooking, and the people who take time to deliver those meals to give back to our community. It may seem small, but this makes a huge impact to the people that receive these meals.
This year, for the first time in the almost 40 years that I have been doing this I was absolutely dismayed and appalled at the behaviors of some of the people who were volunteering their time to deliver meals. I witnessed more than 1 incident of “road rage,” if you will, between people waiting in the line in their cars to pick up meals for delivering. All because of the self-perceived notion of being slighted because a car dared to pull up before them and they felt they were being cut off.
We are all there for a purpose. We were all getting to the same place for the same purpose. What should’ve been a day of thanks and giving instead was a me first. People acting like it’s Black Friday morning and someone pushed you out of the way to grab the last TV off of the shelf. You should be ashamed of your behaviors. The parking lot that we stage in is very small and hard to maneuver. In the grand scheme of things is it really worth getting so angry at someone because you think they pulled up too far before you without your explicit permission?
If someone was maliciously trying to cut people off and were aggressive about it, then yes maybe have a conversation. But yelling, shaking fists at people, staring people down with hate in your eyes? Reevaluate yourselves and the reasons you are there. Think about courtesy, kindness, and recognition that we are all trying to get somewhere in a less than logistically ideal spot. Someone pulled in front of me and I didn’t bat an eye and actually waved them in as we are all supposed to be trying to work together for something greater than ourselves. The space is small, hard to maneuver, and really requires a lot of cooperation between everyone there.
Please choose kindness this holiday season and try to remember when we feel those feelings of anger take a breath and ask yourself why. We are lucky enough to be in the position to give back. That should always be our purpose.
Amy Lavallee lives in Whately.