Decisions

I wonder if one day the phrase "Mommy, I need to go to the bathroom" will stop triggering my fight or flight reflexes.  Nothing strikes fear into my heart like those eight words, especially when uttered in the car on the interstate.  Tonight we were twenty minutes from home when I heard these words with the extra special addition of "it's an emergency!"

It was at this moment when I found myself trying to decide which would be worse- cleaning urine out of the car seat or filling out the police report that would inevitably be necessary after stopping and getting out of the car in this particular area of Atlanta.  I had just about decided that washing the car seat really wasn't so bad when the look of physical desperation on Lucy's face made me decide to chance the stop.

The exit had a couple of gas stations and a McDonald's.  McDonald's won the toss up and we squealed into the parking lot.  A few people stared as we dashed through the restaurant, but we made it with little time to spare.

Afterward, my Granny Holler genes activated and I felt obligated to buy something from the sketchiest McD's in a fifty mile radius.  While Lucy pressed her face against the display of plastic junk they give away in happy meals, I contemplated just how much a single flush obligated me to buy.  In the end I settled on a snack sized McFlurry for Lucy.

The gentleman behind the counter called me M'am and smiled pleasantly and graciously took my order.  He pointed out that Lucy seemed to want a toy.  I agreed, but stated "That won't be happening tonight." and then i took a sideways look out the window to see if anyone was looting the car.  He said that since she was so cute he was just going to give her one.

He proceeds to give Lucy a toy and then thank me profusely for stopping by.  What I fully anticipated to be a miserable and gross experience turned out to be pretty pleasant because of this one guy with a great attitude.  It made me feel bad for judging the place and thinking the worst.  Also, it made me think about how it only takes one decent person to make a situation or a place go from i'm-definitely-going-to-be-robbed-or-maimed to that-was-actually-pleasant.  I want to be the pleasant-maker and I want to teach Lucy how to be that too.  This is going to be quite the challenge.