Saturday, December 29, 2012

Let's Keep Passing/Sharing The Mitzvah aka Turning Lemons Into Lemonade

Working in a simple "clothing for the entire family" store I get to see the best and worst of people.  This is the longest I've worked in a specific, the same, store, so there are many customers, both Jews and Arabs, I know pretty well.  And I've also become pretty good at "predicting" how people will react and what clothing I should show them.

There are governmental laws besides the rules of the Yafiz chain we must work by. Actually I like being able to say:
"I'm just a lowly employee and have now authority to..." 

Sometimes the customers don't like what we tell them, and sometimes the customers get very angry. It's not pleasant to put it mildly. 

One of the rules, government laws, is that it is forbidden to exchange underpants/briefs/boxers even if they had never been worn or box had never been open.  It's a law and there is nothing we can do.

Last week a young man came in to exchange his box of boxers for the next size.  I told him the law.  I could see the anger churning up in him, like a kettle about to boil over.  He held it in and tried again.  I apologized and said that our hands are tied; we have no choice.  It's against the law.

He slammed the box onto our desk and walked out angrily, but silently.  I called to him:
"I'll donate it to a charity."

A few minutes later I saw him outside and thanked him for being so understanding.
"Some people get very nasty," I told him. 

Soon after he returned to the store and bought another box, but of the right size.  Again I thanked him and told him that the mitzvah of donating the first box would be his.  He thanked me.  A couple of days later I passed the box on to a friend who donates clothing to charity.

Who would have thought that a simple, inexpensive box of men's boxers could be the source of so many mitzvot?

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