He was changing out plastic bags in a couple of trash cans near the entrance of Walmart. He was an employee, looking off into the distance as he did his work. He wasn’t moving quickly.
He was a young guy, about 20 years old, and tall. I walked up to him and asked him my question. “Whaaat?” he asked, a little incredulously. So I asked him again, and he pondered this for a minute. He was smiling, so maybe he thought it was a joke.
But eventually he came to the realization that I was serious. At first, he said I could. And then when I told him I would do it right then, he balked. “I’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said, gesturing to the trash cans. I shrugged, told him he could keep working and bowed my head. He did keep working, bending down at one point to pick up a lid during my prayer. There was no question he was working with more ambition than when I first saw him.
After I finished, I thanked him. He kind of smiled, definitely uncomfortable.
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