Socially Awkward

We've all had those moments. It's responding with "You too," when the ticket agent tells you to have a good flight or the pizza delivery girl tells you to enjoy your pizza. Well, it happened to me today (again).

I went to Quizno's to grab a sandwich for lunch. And despite the slight language barrier between me and the guy making the sandwich, I ordered without any problems. Mesquite chicken, whole wheat bread, no tomatoes, extra cheese.

Then I got to the checkout. New guy there. And this time, the accent was almost too much. As I told him I'd like chips and a drink with my sandwich, he asked, "Do you want a sucker?"

Confused, I asked him to please repeat his question.

"Do you want a sucker?"

Yep, I thought, he asked if I wanted a sucker. "No, thank you." A completely normal, appropriate response to that question, right? After all, I did not want a sucker. But the look on his face didn't match the situation. He was confused; a little too confused. Maybe it's just him, I thought.

Then, as I got to the door, I realized what happened. It wasn't just him. He hadn't asked me if I wanted a sucker. See, I was wearing this shirt...



In case you don't know, that's a Juventus soccer club jersey. The guy didn't ask me if I want a sucker. He asked if I watch soccer! No wonder, "No, thank you," brought about the confusion on his part.

So often, that's the problem between the Church and the world. People are asking us (the Church) questions that they really need answers to. But we misunderstand and answer what we think they need to hear. We don't take the time to find out what they are really saying.

My prayer is that as I go through each day, God opens my eyes (and ears) to the real needs of people; and that I don't go around answering "No, thank you" to people who are asking me to introduce them to Jesus just because I didn't take the time to really hear them.