It was a beautiful, sunny day and my son and I were at the farmers’ market standing in a line for the Dirty Girls Dry Farm tomatoes, the absolute best. We were about 5 feet away from the woman in front of us. Suddenly she turned around and angrily commanded us to move back and comply with the 6 ft. distancing rule. The unexpected negativity was a bit shocking. My immediate thoughts were she’s in fear and it’s a good thing she’s not in Texas or another open carry state as her provocative attitude could get her in trouble.

When it was her turn to select tomatoes, she put on gloves and, as she was beginning to place the chosen ones in a bag, her partner joined her. With gloveless hands, he touched so many tomatoes that he did not put in the bag to buy. That’s a rule too - the produce we touch we buy. The scene was comical. How ironic and absurd! In retrospect, with kindness, I wish I had spoken up.

This world would be such a better place if each of us abided by the Golden Rule of “treating others as you want to be treated.” I strive for this and, at times, I too have fallen out of awareness.

It’s very simple though: I/Thou