Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Lunch or Laundry? My Brain on Vacation.


Today I went to a friend's house to take a movie back, and to borrow another one.  My friend surprised me when she opened the door and asked if I would like some lunch.  I responded in just the way I was hoping to never respond to an invitation again; with silence, and perhaps my mouth slightly agape.  I was taken by surprise. I don't even think I said anything to her invitation.  Then she invited me again, and to my shame, I didn't respond a bit better!  I finally made a lame excuse about laundry (because laundry can't wait a half hour?) and went home.

Why?  Why did I respond that way?  I felt awful about it, so why did I do it?  Perhaps I fell prey to the idea that I must protect her from her own generosity.  I mean, what if I ate more Hawaiin Haystack than she wanted me to and kept her from important things?  More likely, I fell prey to my own habit of keeping to a schedule, even a made up one that could easily be changed because -- really -- could laundry possibly be that super pressing?

Less than a week ago I was telling someone that I wanted to learn to respond to invitations with enthusiasm.  Unfortunately, responding with silence and my mouth slightly agape seems to be a bad habit of mine!  Then, at my first opportunity, I fail.  I fear that I left my friend, or her daughter, thinking that I love spending time washing dirty socks more than I like eating free food and enjoying their company!  I love my friend, and her daughter.  I even like their food.  Visiting is one of my favorite things to do in the whole world.

So, NEXT time I get invited to do something, even if it surprises the brains right out of me, I am hoping to remember to respond graciously, with enthusiasm.  When I am brave enough to invite someone to do something with me, I love when they respond with joy -- or even gentle kindness!  If I really had needed to be somewhere I could have responded, "Wow!  Thanks so much for inviting me.  I would love to stay if I hadn't promised to be (insert important thing here) in ten minutes."  That would have been infinitely better than what I did.

I want my friend to know that I love spending time with her, and her daughter, much more than I like spending time with dirty, or even clean, laundry.  This is true even if I have a fun movie to watch while I fold clothes.  It is a good thing that I have kind, and forgiving friends, who (I hope) realize that occasionally my brain steps out for a vacation without warning me.

*Picture of Hawaiin Haystack from recipedutchess.blogspot.com
*Picture of Laundry from puzzlingcreativity.blogspot.com

1 comment:

Michelle said...

Oh, Sher. I'm sorry that happened. Even social butterflies get hung up on a flower sometimes. (You're the butterfly, just so you know.)