Today My Faith In Humanity Was Restored By A Little Old Lady And Her Nail Polish

This week has been rough and it's not over yet. The current government shutdown has the lab in shambles. Part of the staff is furloughed and the lab is running on reserve funds. I'm very blessed not to be affected monetarily by the shutdown. But It has been stressful trying to get work done. 

Today a little old woman reaffirmed my faith in humanity. One of the secretaries, Barb, who is furloughed came in today to help out in a way only she could think of. She brought in baked goods and nail polish. 

Now Barb wanted to help out but knew she couldn't physically help. So she did what all grandmothers do. She saw a need and filled it. She brought baked goods in to lift every ones' spirits. Seriously, brownies are a cure all for everything! 

But Barb also saw a need that some of us didn't know we were missing. She saw that the women in our division needed a few minutes of "girl time". So she brought in the nail polish, her pedicure kit, and a schedule with 30 minute time slots that had been assigned to each of us.

I went to her office at my assigned time not knowing what to expect. At that time I was unaware that she had brought the nail polish.

Now, we all know that I'm not one to paint my nails. I would do it off and on when I was younger but I lost all interest in keeping it up in college. So when I saw the foot bath and polish I was a little wary. I was thinking of excuses to get out of it as Barb and I small talked. 

I was getting ready to make my excuse and run when Barb looked at me with a smile before she said. "Now Miss Jessica, I know that you're not one for painting your nails but would you do an old woman a favor and let me give you a pedicure. One, you'll be helping me keep busy. And two, you probably need it."

At that point, I couldn't say no and I remembered a discussion I had with a friend a while back. I had been complaining that people weren't letting me serve them. My friend looked me straight in the eye and told me that sometimes serving someone means letting them serve you because the service they needed the most was that feeling of being useful from filling another's needs.

So I dutifully sat and got my pedicure. And you know what? It was exactly what I needed. It gave me a break from the stress and the science and it gave me the opportunity to talk to Barb. I can't remember what we talked about even though it was earlier today. But I came out of that time slot feeling more refreshed than I had in a while. Not to mention, my toe nails look amazing. Well, according to Barb they fit my personality.

Lesson from today: my faith in humanity and my sanity can be restored by a little old lady with nail polish.

And because I know some of you would want photographic evidence...