"Don't Settle!"

When I was in the supermarket earlier this week, the cashier had those words written on the back of her hand: "Don't Settle!!!!! Don't Settle!!!!! Don't Settle!!!!!!"

My first reaction was to smile, because when I was in high school, we used to write notes on the backs of our hands... either important things that we didn't want to forget, or silly notes to show our friends. I told the twenty-something cashier that the writing on her hand reminded me of my high school friends. She told me that she kept writing "Don't Settle!" on her hand to remind herself not to settle for just any old guy who comes along.

While she was scanning my groceries on the machine, she told me that so many of her friends have gotten married and now they're either stuck with a baby or the guy just up and left. So her note to herself not to settle is a constant reminder so she doesn't end up like those friends of hers.

I told her she was too young to be settling on just anyone. "But it's so hard to be alone sometimes," she told me. Without missing a beat, I told her "Being alone is far better than being with someone who doesn't deserve you."

By that time, she had rung up all of my groceries and I had given her my check and off I went. I couldn't get that girl's face out of my mind, though. And I kept hearing the longing in her voice as she told me how hard it was to be alone at times. I'm old enough to know that she would be the kind of girl who would be "settling" for any guy who came along and sweet-talked her a little bit.

I dug into my closet and took out all of the copies of Oprah's "O" magazine that I'd been saving. I had read them all but didn't want to toss them away. I usually bring old magazines to the Senior Center, but the "O" issues weren't exactly what they needed. But I knew right away what I would do with those magazines.

During my errands today, I went back to the supermarket. Not for groceries, but to see if that cashier was working. Lucky for me.... there she was, and I had a large shopping bag with me, filled with all those great magazines with the articles she needed to read about keeping true to herself and not tossing out her dreams just to be part of a couple.

The first thing I noticed about the cashier was that her hand was free of her "Don't Settle!" reminder, and I blurted out "You took away your words!" She was busy with a customer and barely looked at me as she said that "Someone recently told me something that made sense to me so I didn't think I needed to be writing on my hand anymore." Then she looked at me and said "It's YOU!"

Well, that just warmed my heart. I told her that I had brought her my old issues of Oprah's magazines, and I thought she might like to read them. I told her they were filled with lots of good articles that would remind her not to settle for anything or anybody, and I told her the magazines were hers to keep. You would've thought I'd given that girl a bag of gold, the way her face lit up.

And that warmed my heart as well.

What a great day....