I was at the Rewe checkout when a mom entered, pushing a cart piled with crates of recyclable glass bottles. Her son pressed on a bottom crate with his toddler legs.
Crash! Smash! Silence. The mom’s face flushed. Her instinct was to shout at the child. I met her gaze with as much kindness as my American face could muster. The boy and I began a game. With each unbroken bottle he placed back in its red, plastic row, I clapped “Bravo.” Staff swept up the glass. The mom expressed her emotions in German. I expressed my emotions in silence.
Christi Byerly, who’s lived in six countries on three continents, runs Awaken Coaching. Her clients come from all over the globe.