Recently, Martin and I made our usual trip to Target. These trips are usually pretty expensive, and on this particular occasion, our cart was loaded with lots of extras. We were stocking up for our box for my latest and most favorite venture- www.soldiersangels.org. I have adopted a soldier that is deployed, and we are responsible for sending letters and/or care packages at least weekly- those who know me, know this is very near and dear to my heart, but I digress.
As we scooted our baby wipe, candy and goodie ridden cart up to the counter, I immediately noticed the teenager checking us out. She seemed, well, "more up tight than a cat in a room full of rocking chairs". We smiled, and asked how she was, and she said, "Oh, fine, good, I just have a lot going on". Wow. I immediately noticed that she looked about 17 and wondered what in the world she could be THIS stressed about. As I pondered this, said cashier began to mutter under her breath, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming" and suddenly, I thought I was dreaming. Really? Maybe we chose TOO many small items- she was clearly overwhelmed.... I began to explain that we were making these purchases for our soldier- through Soldier's Angels.org. Her ears seemed to perk up at this, and she pushed for more information. She said, "I'm the President of the Student Body, and maybe this would be a good project for us". I explained the details, and she looked a little disappointed as she said, "Well, that seems like a big commitment, I have so much on my plate already." I walked out feeling sorry for her, and Martin and I laughed a little as we pondered the future of a stressed out high school senior.
Whew. Just typing this wore me out. Seriously? Are kids today THIS stressed? I asked my Uncle Daniel, who is a youth pastor about this later, and he said, "Teenagers today are OVER SCHEDULED and UNDER CONNECTED." Here's hoping that the adult life of the Target check out girl is smooth sailing.
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