A New Garment

I love it when beautiful random memories pop up. This is one of them. 💕

It was a very warm day when she wandered into the shop where I was working. She walked up to my counter and asked me for a pair of scissors. I probably took a step back mentally if not physically. I wondered if she wanted to hurt herself.

I slowly opened my drawer and took the scissors out. I reluctantly handed them to her and asked her what she needed them for. She told me she was hot and was going to cut the long sleeves off her shirt. I am sure I looked at her like she was crazy.

She took the scissors to her left sleeve and started cutting. She was serious! It was more difficult to cut the right sleeve with her left hand. As she did this, she babbled away to me, telling me she was in town for a relative’s funeral and in her culture, and she was supposed to wear the same clothes for several days. I wasn’t sure if she was putting me on or not, and I wasn’t going to ask because she was holding a sharp object!

She then announced she was going to cut her pant legs shorter. By this time, she had won my heart with her openness so I offered to cut the pant legs for her. It was coffee time in the shop and the managers were out back so I quickly sent up a prayer that they wouldn’t decide to return early, and also that the phone would not ring.

I went around the counter and proceeded to cut her outfit. I didn’t do a very good job – the cuts were somewhat jagged. I could have sent her into the public washroom and asked her to hand her pants out to me but I figured that was going to backfire. I knew if the managers saw what was happening, they’d be making rude and cruel remarks about this woman for the rest of the day. I couldn’t bear the thought of that happening.

When I was done, I stood up and she gave me a delighted grin. She reached for my hands and held them in hers and thanked me. I gave her a little blessing and she thanked me again. Then she was off into the hot sunshine in her new “shorts.” I wondered if she might regret her actions and come back to berate me but I never saw her again.

Wherever she is, I hope she is well.