Things My Mother Taught Me*

1. How to Bag Groceries
My mother was always very picky about how the baggers at grocery stores bagged her groceries. Something are no brainers- like bread and eggs seperated from everything else, but other things she insisted on seemd strange to me at the time, or, judging by the heavy sighs, to the cashiers as well. However, if I pack everyone's groceries as I would pack my mother's most customers seem to be fairly satisified and occasionally complement me on my bagging job. Others either insist I shove everything into one bag or glare at me and mumur something along the lines of kids can't do anything right, when I fail to bag their groceries- plastic in paper in plastic, two items maximum per bag- without being asked.
2. To Always Do My Best
Dealing with the public and ringing groceries several days a week as never been my dream job, and certainitly won't be a career for me, but while I'm there I suck it up, smile, and do my best to ring fast, pack well, be courteous, and remember 8000 codes. This belief was instilled in me from my mom always insisting that I do my best, even if it was something I didn't care of or didn't excel at.
3. Be Nice to Everyone
My mom was like the mom in Bambi. I frequently heard "If you can't say anything nice then don't say anyything at all." I learned that everyone deserves respect and should be treated nicely. As for the rude customers who think the grocery store revolves around  them and that I can balance their 12 pack on my head while ringing and baggin their groceries, I "kill um with kindess". This belief gets a bit tricky when it comes to dealing with my mother in law because she  calls almost everyday, and if we don't pick up she will continue to call on the hour, and will alternate between our house phone and cells. She always asks (both of us) the same questions, several times, in the same conversation. She even told my husband that she does that because she doesn't listen to our response. As far as being mean to her goes- I want to explode and tell her everything she does that drives us both crazy. The worst thing I've done so far is hang up on her. Like I said, "If you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all" :)
4. Volunteering
My mom instilled in me, at an early age, a desire to volunteer and help others. As a Girl Scout I picked up trash, helped out a camp,served at nursing homes, held food drives, worked with children at Head Start and helped with Hurrican Katrina relief. I volunteered a lot in college too- helping with the Children's Shelter, Girl's Home, baking cupcakes for the soup kitchen, cleaning at a woman's shelter and a varieety of other things. Helping others is missing from my life right now, and I miss it. I'm looking for something to get involved with in my area, but I keep coming up short. There seems to be a shortage of nonprofits in my town, as well as the next one over, there doesn't seem to be a soup kitchen and the food bank is also about 45 minuts away and has a confusing volunteer system. The only flyer I've seen is for a lunch buddy program, but I tend to work during hte lunch hour. Any suggestions for programs to check into? Perhaps something that I can do with my inconsisten work
schedule?

*This was inspired by a Mama Kat prompt