The parent child relationship is a one of a kind ever changing adventure . It changes due to circumstances , life events , health issues , other relationships and mostly because of age . As the child ages , we often are the ones who are taking on the role of advising and teaching and guiding through life . I find myself ( as do my sisters) helping my mom navigate things like finances , technology, health care etc. but I was recently reminded that my mom still teaches me the basics such as how to be a good human. I was visiting her and we went to lunch with my sister. It was a beautiful place and my mom was excited to take me there as she knew I would love it . And she was right . The atmosphere and food was wonderful and I did love it . The service , however, was not so enjoyable . Our waitress seemed hurried and stressed . She spent little time with us and did the bare minimum if even that. We were lamenting the fact and how it was ruining our lunch . It was my turn to buy and I said how I was not going to leave her a good tip and my sister agreed . My mom was quieter about it . My sister went to the bathroom and I left the receipt with a small tip . My mom came over and handed me some money and said “ add this to the tip. Maybe she is just having a bad day and shouldn’t we be better than this . “ I was instantly humbled especially as I work in customer service and know for a fact that I have days where I just can’t give my all and my service falls flat. My mom was right . Lesson learned or so I thought . There was a gift shop attached to the restaurant and we wandered off to shop. My mom stopped me and quietly asked while pointing at our waitress “ is that our waitress ?” . I said “yes” and kept walking . My mom said “ go shop . I will catch up with you” and she walked the other way . I didn’t think much of it as I wandered through the store . My mom did catch up with us and when asked she said “ I went to the waitress and said ‘are you okay?’ She looked at my mom and said ‘ um yeah I am okay. ‘ my mom said “ well you seemed like you were having a hard time and a bad day and I wanted to make sure you were okay.’ The waitress kind of stammered and got teary and my mom said “ can I give you a hug “ to which the waitress agreed . Another waitress witnessing this said “ oh my goodness that is so sweet “ . My mom hugged her and then told her she hoped she had a better day as she left to catch up with us . I am ashamed at myself for jumping to the entitled move of complaining and not tipping her in a job that is very difficult . I’m so glad for the lesson my mom taught me . The important lesson . I can help her with technology and paperwork but all that is surface stuff compared to the lesson she taught me on how to just be a better human .
