The End of Whining on a Cold Day

Where I live, the weather is painfully frigid. I was complaining to myself  as I drove to fill up with gas. Then, I checked myself: hey, I have a car. If I had to ride the bus in this weather, then I really would have grounds for complaint.

Then, I was really, really and definitively, put in my place. As I finished getting gas in the frigid weather, I saw a middle-aged lady holding two bags full of miscellaneous groceries coming out of the gas station convenience store. She was dressed like a white-collar office worker, no coat. She was lurching very slowly using two crutches---the kind where you grab a pole-like handle with each hand and nestle the metal rest against the back of your arm and elbow.

She continued to lurch forward very slowly to her car. I was struck by her challenge in the cold weather while holding two plastic bags containing various items and hanging down from one hand. I offered to help. She, very kindly and good-naturedly, said that she did not have far to go (she was being optimistic). I stayed in my car to make sure that she made it. She did make it, with some difficulty but yet quite effective, in the end, in her own, well-practiced way. Character. 

Res ipsa loquitur. The matter speaks for itself.  I have been shamed out of my winter whining. The human spirit is amazing.