Welcome to Trace’s Space. Cheese! No, I’m not asking you to pose for a photo, but my latest life lesson has to do with cheese. We seem to go through cheese here at our house like the fish eat bread at the spillway at Pymatuning .
I should explain for those who do not know of this spillway, here in Pennsylvania there is a lake (it actually spans and shares itself with part of Ohio) Pymatuning, it is quite large and actually very beautiful. There is a spillway on this lake that is famous for a gathering of Carp. These fish are huge, I wouldn’t be surprised if a human fell in that these fish wouldn’t suck the skin right off them. So on any given day, you can actually stop there, purchase bread and feed them. There are thousands of them, and they fight their way to the top of the water in order to devour their fair share of bread. Little kids enjoy watching them fight, actually, most folks enjoy watching them and listening to them, they squeel like pigs! Yes, back to the cheese eating, that’s how quick it’s gone!
I should also clarify, I am not calling my family fish or pigs, they just enjoy cheese!
Now this is where we get to the meat of this story. I seldom purchase groceries at a certain “super” store in our town, but the last two times that I have needed other items that are considerably cheaper than at my favorite grocery store, I have to decided to just pick up what I need as far as food there. The deli experience there is always awful, but for me the issue is always cheese. See, I am picky when it comes to the quality of the cheese, it’s too expensive to not be. The first trip I waited a very long time at the deli to get what I needed, they never have enough help, and they have to cut everything fresh, wrap it up then put it away. Second trip, I ask for my cheese, the girl says, “we have no cheese”.... Response, “ how can a deli not have cheese?” I was in total disbelief, my face was definitely in eye roll mode, and then boom! Right in front of me, there is a unopened sleeve of American cheese! The girl never saw it. She had been told by another deli person, no cheese! Honestly I had this vision of the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld saying, “ no cheese for you!” She was going by this persons word not actually looking for herself.
How often do we do that? Someone offers up information and we choose to not investigate for ourselves. We either except value in that which is shared, form an opinion based on someone else’s facts, without even checking it out. Most times folks are reliable, they are factual, but what about those times when your gut is saying, hey, this doesn’t sound right, or it is what it is and I really don’t have time to research. I believe deli girl didn’t have time to research, she had to get about her business and cheese wasn’t her priority. She was so consumed with getting the job done she didn’t have time to look right in front of her.
I am a fact finder. I love facts and truth. I do not have time to second guess or to have to back track because someone else didn’t feel it necessary to find out what it’s really about. I have been gifted with an ability to see beyond superficial factoids, and a mere stroke of information, the need to really know will actually motivate me right to google. I want to be well informed and also I want to be clear when I relay that information and I certainly do not want to be caught up in a fib. Liars make me tired, gossipers, well...being misinformed isn’t wrong especially when it’s not intentional, but we do have a responsibility to own what we say, and know what we are talking about, we also have the obligation to admit we were wrong or misinformed when we find out the facts.
I read a lot of information on a lot of subjects, especially when my gut says, there is more to the story. I have to say nine times out of ten, when I get the gut reaction, someone in the line of communication has left out or misinterpreted a piece on information. What brings on my gut reaction? Well it’s not eye rolling, it’s when those eyes either look down or away, or a person literally turns themselves away when presenting what they claim to know. It’s not that need to be right, I just want facts, I want truth. I hunger for truth! So if you find you are making up the truth as you go along, you better be taking notes, you will forget what you said, your facts will go kerplunk and the truth will set everyone free but you! Again it’s your responsibility to fact check your source, and again, to own what you say.
Deli girl was worried that I was upset with her. I was not, I actually laughed and said, girl you are so busy, I get it. She had integrity and I believe from our encounter that she values truth. I bet she apologized five times. At the end of this the responsibility did not lie with anyone actually doing their job there, it went clear back to management, the folks who schedule, the folks who order. But, she still was willing to own it and not place the blame on anyone but herself.
Truth is a Who God is... His word is full of information, and I believe that is why we hunger for it and why He has told us to come and dine. To drink from the fountain...
Cheese while in demand is basically easy to come by, but not easy to keep. Truth the same!
See you next time
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