So I’m leaving Burger King this morning (having a Gotta-Have-A-Cinnabon-PMS-Moment) and a guy walks up to my car. He explains that he and his wife are in town with no money, and he was “led by the Spirit” to ask me for help in getting them a meal. I had no cash, so I asked if he wanted to head back in BK to get a couple of breakfast combos. *Crickets*….He finally recovers from the awkward silence and takes me up on my offer. The entire experience was weird. I realized at that point what he really wanted was money. Now he was frustrated- with me, with himself, and probably even with the little girl behind the counter ringing up those Croissan’wiches that he didn’t really want. At the end of the day, however, he got exactly what he asked for.
Sometimes we as women are afraid to be assertive about what we want. This manifests itself both by silence and by deception. We pretend we’re ok when we aren’t. We ask for a promotion, when what we really want is a raise. We ask for a friend, when what we really want is a husband. We ask for appreciation (“I just want you to recognize all I do around here!”) , when what we really want is assistance. Or we just don’t ask at all.
My experience with that guy today reminded me that sometimes even open mouths don’t get fed. Know what you want, and never be afraid to ask for it.
Red Stiletto-Beyond the 9-5 