Lessons from a nail salon.

via Instagram @whitneynewby

Yesterday, I had a few hours to get things done without my little man around (thank you, Mimi & Poppy!) and decided to take 45 minutes and get a manicure. It was the first manicure I've had in nearly a year, so I was thrilled to sit down, relax, and enjoy every second of the experience.

As my nails dried, there was only one other customer in the salon who was finishing up a pedicure. I'd heard her snap at the lady doing her nails a time or two, so I already felt nervous when she got up to pay.

As soon as she got to the checkout counter, she presented a Groupon and demanded that they take it, even though it had expired two weeks before. She claimed that the value she paid would never expire, even though the deal had expired (and looking at Groupon's policies now, she was technically correct). But the way she talked to the ladies in the salon - immigrants from Asia - made me physically sick. My heart raced and my face turned flush as I listened to her tell them she was an attorney and threaten their business if they didn't allow her to use her expired Groupon.

It made me embarrassed to be lumped into the same group alongside her... another white, privileged woman. As soon as she left, the employees were clearly flustered and softly talked to each other in their language, trying not to make a big deal out of it around me. I ended up apologizing for her behavior and the way she treated them. They were so eager to please and so kind to customers, so to be treated that way over a pedicure was disturbing.

I'm currently reading this book, Escape from Camp 14, which chronicles the life of the only known person born in a North Korean prison camp who was able to escape to freedom in the west. It's a disturbing read, at least at this point in the story, but I just can't help but look at my own life with so much gratitude. Shin, a man about my age, was born and raised without love, without hope, without hardly any food apart from rats and insects he caught. He was tortured, abused, and knew nothing of the outside world. Can you imagine the culture shock he experienced when he moved to Southern California?! I know it's an extreme example, but as a young wife and mother living in a very wealthy part of the world, it would be so easy to get so caught up in my own little world that I know nothing of stories like Shin's. But I don't want my head to be in the sand and think that my life is normal - or difficult. My life is not normal. Not for a second. I am incredibly blessed, and to whom much is given, much is required.

So back to the nail salon. If this lady was immature enough to enter a heated discussion over a pedicure, I'm sure there were other things going on her life. But it makes me so sad how the majority often treats minorities or anyone they view as inferior in such subtle and yet such cruel ways. I find myself, recently, employing a first generation immigrant - and my eyes were once again opened to how I should be treating her, loving her, and serving her as my equal. It makes me so excited to watch Brighter Day grow and to hopefully realize our dream of employing those who have once been victims of human trafficking. Which is another story for another day. Little by little, the Lord is preparing us with lessons - even here in Franklin, Tennessee - that will serve us along the way as this business and ministry grow.

PS - They did an excellent job on my nails. I'm a fan.