Casual Is Not Always Appropriate

If confession is good for the soul, I would like to give my soul a little treat.

During this "stay-at-home" phenomenon, the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and Yours Truly, have been enjoying our time alone. We certainly have taken advantage of it.

Not too long ago, my wife came up with something to make our time a little more memorable. She called it, casual pajama time.

After breakfast, we would wear our morning casual pajamas. After lunch, it would be our afternoon casual pajamas. And, after supper, it would be our evening casual pajamas.

I never heard of this before, but I joined in with the fun. I knew what time of the day it was by the pajamas I was wearing at that time. There is always something good in everything.

It was early in the afternoon, and my wife took a nap. It was at that time I remembered something she said earlier that morning. For some reason, she forgot to get milk and eggs at the grocery store yesterday. Thinking about that, I had a thought. You would think of all the times I have had thoughts, I would realize that they never come out with anything good.

However, I thought this would be an opportunity to get one over on her. I would sneak out, go to the grocery store, get some milk and eggs, sneak back into the house and put them in the refrigerator. Then, when she woke up, I would say, "Honey, I thought you said we didn't have milk or eggs?"

That would be something I could live with forever and a day.

Being as quiet as I possibly could, I went out to my vehicle and headed for the grocery store. I was chuckling all the way to the store. I could not wait to pull this one over on her.

I got at the store, parked, and began walking towards the entrance. There seem to be quite a few people in the parking lot, and for some reason, everybody was looking at me and smiling or even laughing.

I thought something was happening making people happy. Maybe I just forgot how happy people really are in real life. I joined them in smiling and laughing.

Going into the store, I walked to where the milk and eggs were, and as I was walking, people stopped, looked at me and some smiled, some pointed a finger, and some even laughed. I thought to myself, what a wonderful world we live in when people are always happy and laughing.

I even wore one of those masks that my wife made. Someone was looking at me and smiling I said, “My wife made this mask. Doesn’t it look wonderful?” To which they laughed almost hysterically. I could not keep from laughing either.

Whatever this thing happening in our world today is, at least some people are taking it on the lighter side. It is wonderful when people are not all bent out of shape, sad, and discouraged. I love to see people smile and laugh.

I knew I did not have much time in the store and had to get home before my wife woke up so I could pull this trick on her. Every time I thought of this, I was smiling on both the inside and the outside. I cannot believe I am actually going to get one over on her.

Walking up to the cashier, I noticed people were still smiling and laughing, and some were even pointing at me. I knew it had to be the mask because it was a great mask that my wife had made.

The cashier greeted me with a very hesitant smile and rang up my items, and I was to pay with my credit card. I made conversation with the cashier and then stuck my hand in my pocket to pull out my wallet.

The problem was, I could not find my pocket. This has never happened before because I always know where my pockets in my pants are. I chuckled a little bit and then happened to look down and discovered I was wearing my casual afternoon pajamas.

Having no pockets in my pajamas, I had no wallet on me and therefore had no way to pay for those items. At this point, I was not laughing, but the people behind me seemed to be laughing even louder.

I begin to understand why people were smiling and laughing and pointing at me. It was not that they were happy so much as it was I looked ridiculous in my afternoon casual pajamas. I have never worn pajamas out in public before, and I promised myself I would never do it again.

I did not know how to pay for those two items. Trying to figure out what to do, someone came up behind me and told the cashier, “Put his items on my card because the entertainment has been worth it.”

Everybody behind me was laughing, and I did not know exactly what to do. I looked at the lady and said, "Thank you for this."

“No,” she said, “thank you for the entertainment.”

Driving out of the parking lot, I could not help but think of a verse of Scripture, “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (Luke 6:31).

Being generous sometimes is a little act of kindness.