A "DR. PHIL" SHOPPING TRIP

“And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.” (2 Kings 6:12)

This past Saturday, the duty fell to me to do the family grocery shopping. When that’s the case, I like to go early in the morning, but this past weekend, my schedule did not permit that. I arrived at Market Basket in Ashland at 3:45 p.m.
After I’d grabbed a shopping cart and wheeled it no more than five feet, I couldn’t help but notice what was certainly a father and son directly in front of me. They had their own empty cart and were also just getting started. I’d say the father was probably in his late 40s and the lanky son was probably around 19. I wrote that I “noticed” them, but I also heard them. They were engaged in a passionate conversation- something to do with construction and the best way to build something. They were probably a little bit louder and a little bit more intense than you’d expect while doing grocery shopping. I suppose for me to comment on this is like “the pot calling the kettle black”. I’ve got a very loud, penetrating voice. It can be good for preaching, but the problem is that when I speak at what is for me a normal, comfortable volume, it sounds almost like I’m shouting to everybody else. I’ve had numberous embarrassing situations in restaurants where I’m just sitting at a booth talking, and the person I’m talking to says, “Bob, will you tone it done, EVERYBODY in the restaurant can hear EVERYTHING you’re saying!” I’ll glance around, and feel myself turning red, because it’s obviously true!

Well, back to Saturday. I really didn’t want to be around the chatterbox father and son, but just a short time after I grabbed my number slip at the deli counter, the family duo showed up and grabbed a number slip. They continued in what almost seemed like a father and son bonding ritual that had been given as a homework assignment by a professional counselor. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that, but it just didn’t seem appropriate for a food store. After leaving the deli area, I’d hoped to avoid them, but it seemed I just kept running into them in the aisles. The worst was the cleaning products aisle where I’d gone to pick up laundry detergent. The son was telling his father that he had to get bathroom cleaner because the guys he lived with stunk up the bathroom. I surmised he probably lived in a college dorm. The father, with deep concern, asked, “What do you think the smell is? What do you think is causing it?” Now, I’ve lived in a college dorm a long, long time ago. I’ve certainly experineced the blended smells of older adolescent guys living on the same floor and using the same bathroom. I absolutely did not want to hear this conversation. I wheeled away!

The meetings with this pair were not over, however. At the end of one aisle, they were stopped, and facing each other in a pose that looked like a tear-jerking moment on the Dr. Phil show. The father began talking about “Your mother...” and how she’s wrong and doesn’t understand things, etc. I suspect the young man’s parents may not still be married to each other. Maybe this was the weekend time a divorced Dad was spending with his college age son. But- stopped- in a grocery store- having a Dr. Phil moment?

I’m grateful that was my final encounter with this pair! No, they weren’t in my checkout line. I’ve been thinking about Saturday’s shopping trip. I wonder why God allowed me to keep running into that father and son. Was it to tell me to pray for them? Was it to show me something? I’m not only a very loud person; I also can be a very intense and emotional person. Have I ever had personal conversations in public places that could make strangers uncomfortable? I’m ashamed to admit, I have. It didn’t feel very pleasant being on the other end of such conversations. So, I’m going to be a lot more thoughtful and more careful about that. As Ecclesiastes chapter 3 indicates, there is a (proper) time for everything.