As you have read I'm sure, today is Corpus Christi here in Poland. "Holy" for many people. About 10 this morning Michael asked Piotrek to cut our tiny, tiny yard. All three kiddos ran outside to watch the ceremonial cutting of the grass. As kids are, they were being a little loud, having a good time and watching Piotrek.
All of a sudden, we heard the ringing of our door bell. A lady was standing at our gate, waiting to talk to Michael. Michael quickly went downstairs to see what she wanted. This older lady began to explain to him that today was "holy" and "no one works". She told him that all she wanted to do was have a quiet cup of coffee in her yard with her son and the lawnmower and the loud children were bothering her. Why would we be letting our kids do work on this special day, maybe we didn't understand what today really was?
On and on she went, the discussion lasting about 20 minutes. Michael kindly told her that, yes, we understand what today is and that he thought the "holiday" was more about God than about being quiet or not doing anything. He also explained that the 10 minutes (literally) to cut the grass, in his opinion, did not disturb God.
In the end, they both politely chatted and even discussed the possibility for Michael to come down to her stained-glass shop to take some pictures. Strange. If someone would go to someone else's house in the States to share with them the way they should conduct themselves in their own home, I'm afraid they would have the door slammed in their face and possibly the police called for trespassing. But not in Poland! Older people especially believe that they are the "social police" and have the right to tell anyone younger than them what to do. Again, strange. I don't get it.
Living in another country...a new experience everyday!
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2 comments:
Haha!! Reminds me of a few weeks ago... I was having Bible study at my house and afterwards we went into the park behind my flat to toss a beach ball and have fun. The park is locked to non-residents. When we walked out the gate, there were two old ladies standing there, waiting for us to get close enough so they could wave their fingers at us and tell us that we can't play ball in the park. Argh!!!! Sometimes I want to scream in their faces, but instead I followed the lead of my Polish friends and we just shrugged and walked past her. That also felt good.
Gloria Gaither said it best, "Heaven is filled with the sound of happy children at play". Been my reply to complaints of noisy children!
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