Snobbery

I frequently shop at Wal-Mart, something that snobs would chuckle at. I mean, after all, anyone who cares about status and appearances wouldn't be caught dead there. But as for me, baby, I like to save money and I will not worry about my image.

Not so fast. I'm not the saint I appear to be. Because even among Wal-Mart shoppers, there is class distinction.

The specific WM I go to when vittles get low is the "Neighborhood" Wal-Mart here in Rockwall. It is planted squarely in an area called "The Shores", a very nice, upscale neighborhood bordering Lake Ray Hubbard. I don't live in The Shores (the "The" must be capitalized!), but this particular store is closer than any other. The store's clientele are well-scrubbed, well-educated, and smell good. It's not unusual to see men wearing suits there, buying dog food for their pure-bred Austrian yorkies. The women tend to be thirty-ish, often attired in workout gear, they smell VERY good.

I thought about this today when I had to go into a Wal-Mart that was a bit down the snobbery scale from The Shores. The clientele here was considerably different - a real melting pot. They were of all races and ages. A lot of them had the words "hard life" etched all over their faces. The attire ranged from suitable at best to severely indecent at worst.

And lo and behold, I found myself feeling so very superior.

Is this the by-product of a culture that puts so much emphasis on appearance and being "with it"? Did I think I was the only person in the store that God had entrusted with a soul? Exactly how can one justify such arrogance? (Pssst - he can't.) There is only one thing I can hang onto from today's experience that gives me any hope. At least the Holy Spirit grabbed my stuffed shirt with both hands and shook a little sense in me. Since leaving that store today, I have thought about all that Jesus had to say about arrogance and, to put it in today's vernacular, a "sense of entitlement". It's almost as though He were preoccupied with our view of self compared with others.

I better jettison this holier-than-y'all attitude and beg for opportunities to serve those less fortunate than I. And beg for forgiveness, too.