Normally when Laur goes to Walmart I either stay home or wait in the car. However, they are selling Beep and I just can't get enough of it, so I came into the store this time. It looked like we got there just in time as their supply was very, very low. Normally we pick up six cartons - three litres for the freezer and three litres for the fridge (I mix it 2 parts water to 1 part Beep because I'm just like that). Normally the three litres will last about a week.
Unless I have to share with The Boy, that is.
At any rate, I digress.
As we were at the cashier, I noticed a larger, older woman sitting on a bench behind the checkout with her back to us. At first it seemed as if she had been lost in thought, with a small Walmart bag and half a candy-bar in her lap.
As Laur was conducting the transaction, I put our cart away. I noticed she was slightly pale and her lips were chapped. None of this registered with me until I got back to the cash desk and a middle-aged woman came up to her and said, "How are you doing, honey? Feeling a bit better?"
"Yes, much better," the first woman replied.
"Good, good. Best to get yourself some breakfast," the second lady continued as she briefly tousled the first woman's hair, tenderly lifted her chin and looked at her face. "There, now the sweat is gone."
"Thank you"
And with that, the second woman continued on her way, the first continued to sit and we made our way to the car.
It was only after returning to the car that I realized what had just transpired. Apparently the first woman was experiencing low blood sugar when the second happened upon her Unknown to one another, the second assisted her, made sure she was ok and then continued on her way.
On the surface it seems a bit trite, but it gave me pause. Something like this strikes me as the epitome of Nova Scotia - people help, even if they don't know one another.
On a side note: I think Saskatchewan used to be like that, at least that was my recollection growing up, but somewhere along the line something changed... I'm not sure if it's the proverbial "younger generation" of which Saskatchewan is largely comprised (it seems that our part of NS has an older population) or if something had actually shifted in social values. The Saskatchewan of my youth was not the Saskatchewan I rediscovered as an adult.
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