Harder Than I Thought

 I saw online:

      

“Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness, and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again.”

I thought that was a profound idea. I had been out of the house almost all day, but I was on my way to  rehearsal, and thought it would be a perfect time to try it. I thought about it all the way there, and as I walked toward the building... 

As I approached the door, some man came bustling out. He almost bumped into me, and glared at me like I had done something rude. As he rushed off, I looked after him, surprised and irritated. I turned to walk into the building and suddenly remembered my goal to treat everyone like it was their last day.  I actually smacked myself in the head. How had I forgotten so quickly? 

I walked through the building toward the registration desk, and as I stood there, a new woman walked up. She said she wanted to join the group, and started filling out the paperwork. I was still standing there, handing in my money, when the man at the desk asked her, "Do you already have the score?"

She sounded confused and irritated, and said, "Do I have what?"  

Without even thinking about it, I just said, "The music." 

Without looking at me, she snotted, "I KNOW what 'score' means!" 

I felt terrible and embarrassed. I was genuinely being friendly. I hadn't even thought that she didn't know what it meant. I just said it. I was just being friendly. I wasn't even consciously trying to help. I just said it. So here I go again. I want to help, and I'm trying to be kind to everyone I meet, and I have offended and embarrassed this woman. I stammered something like, "I didn't think you didn't know what it meant. I just thought you didn't hear him.." And she said something I can't remember - but I do remember that she sounded a little embarrassed- like she knew she had been rude. 

I continued to try all through rehearsal.   It was hard. The music was too difficult and I realized right way that I had scheduled myself in over my head. I couldn't learn this music plus the Christmas show, plus Messiah. I tried really hard to be kind to everyone I came across. Other than the guys siting next to me, I didn't see many people. 

This is surprisingly harder to do than you might think....