Feeling Useful...

My local running store (which does, by the way, carry The Original PaceWheel) tries to market the store in various ways including Jack Quinn's Running Club (meet at a favorite local pub for a quick run followed by happy-hour-priced beer and free appetizers) and special guest Saturdays. They bring in some local running or fitness guru for people to talk or listen to at the store - all in the hopes of drumming up more business.

Today was "Meet the Inventor of the Original PaceWheel," and I was the invited guest speaker/presenter/guru. I talked to not one, but two people about the PaceWheel in my four hours there; and I sold not one, but not even one PaceWheel in my four hours. I was a little disappointed at the result.

However, I made myself useful nonetheless (and this, I suppose, is really the point). The weather was beautiful, track season has just begun, and the store was seriously swamped from about 11:30 to 2:00 today. The four employees had more than enough people to work with, and people kept asking me for help, not knowing I didn't work there. I did my best to help each customer, acting as the triage nurse, before sending them to the appropriate actual employee to get help.

But at one point, everyone was busy, and one lady asked me for help. Actually, she motioned to me for help. I walked over to her, and she quickly communicated that I would need something to write with to help her. She could neither hear nor speak. I get the feeling that I was at the store today specifically to help her. My English teacher's penmanship-deciphering and unconventional syntax-decoding skills were put to good use. American Sign Language syntax is not the same as The Queen's Written English; grammar is truncated, and I actually got a chance to serve someone. It was a great way to spend an hour.

This woman had been sent by her doctor for some good, supportive walking shoes to ease her pain from a heel spur among other things, and the store was recommended by this doctor as "the best." However, she ended up with me. I blindly wandered the store-room looking for the right model of shoes in the right sizes; got help from the actual employees when I could; and actually helped her find several pairs of shoes that would work.

I don't doubt that any of the actual employees could have helped her. I'm sure each one of them could have deciphered her writing and each one would have been patient enough to serve her for an hour. I'm not saying I was placed there because she needed me. I'm pretty sure that I was placed there because I needed her. I needed to serve her with my skills as a reminder to me that serving others serves my need for fulfillment and value, not because I am so great, but because I am so needy.