Overheard in Hobby Lobby

I heard it in a Hobby Lobby, as all good stories start.

I was on the sticker aisle, where glossy sheets line every inch on either side, dangling in their cellophane wrapping like sequins on an old Bob Mackie costume. I’ve spent a lot of time in the paper craft section of Hobby Lobby since my mom started card-making. There are stickers for occasions I can’t imagine needing stickers for, but if you ever need blingy teeth for your dentist’s birthday card or want to spice up your commemorative Nebraska photo album, you’re in luck.

Back to what I heard. The woman in the next aisle had been on the phone for a while, finally she sighed, “I just want you to do whatever brings you peace.” I laughed – silently of course. It’s my knee-jerk reaction to most of life. My mom walked around the corner of the aisle on the other side of me, so I grimly repeated the advice in a whisper. She laughed too, and we went about our shopping.

At the time, I was in a writing workshop (with the amazing Dr. Jonathan Rogers) and needed to write about something I’d overheard that week. Since I’m a reclusive writer type, I don’t do as much overhearing as some. And when I do, I never hear anything profound. It’s just stuff like “do whatever brings you peace.” So, I put pen to… I mean fingers to keyboard to make something of it.

I sat and reflected, like the plastic-wrap on the sticker sheets... That’s it! There’s the deep symbolism!

I go to Hobby Lobby.com and look at some of their sticker options. I’m not disappointed. There are more corny sayings than you can imagine. “Be your own kind of beautiful!” “Chase rainbows, little one!” “Family is for always!”

Here comes the symbolic twist (don’t worry, I’m not usually that kind of writer). The theme of the writing workshop was using concrete language. I can’t think of anything that beats those peel-and-stick sentiments as examples of not using concrete language. Do we really talk like that? Would we say the things we sign our cards with out loud?

I think of the lady murmuring, “I just want you to do whatever brings you peace.”

I guess that answers those questions.