Kindness, Patience and Ice Cream

“Clearly older women and especially older women who have led an active life or elder women who successfully maneuver though their own family life have so much to teach us about sharing, patience and wisdom.”

~ Alice Walker

On a recent hot Sunday afternoon, I stood in a very long line outside an ice cream parlor waiting for my turn.  A young woman in line asked if someone spoke Spanish.  A woman in her 70s ahead of me asked the young woman in Spanish how she could help.  The young woman explained that she did not speak English and needed help ordering.  (She also told the older woman that she was a new mother and that her husband was waiting nearby with the baby.)  Part of the problem was that the young woman did not know what she wanted.  The older woman let the young woman go in front of her and helped her communicate with the gentleman at the cashier taking the orders.  It was slow going as the options needed to be explained and then translated.  But both the older woman and the cashier patiently communicated with each other and with the young woman.  To my surprise, everyone in line seemed to wait patiently, too – despite the heat and the wait.  And the young woman was able to get the ice cream she wanted for her and her husband.